San Francisco Fire of 1851

During the height of the California Gold Rush, between December 1849 and June 1851, San Francisco endured a sequence of seven severe fires, of which this was the sixth and by far the most damaging.

[1] Around 11 pm on the night of May 3, 1851, a fire (possibly arson) broke out in a paint and upholstery store above a hotel on the south side of Portsmouth Square in San Francisco.

[1][3][4] A vivid description of the fire occurs in author Frank Marryat's memoir Molehills and Mountains:[1] “The wind was unusually high, and the flames spread in a broad sheet over the town.

As the wind increased to a gale, the fire became beyond control; the brick buildings on Montgomery crumbled before it; and before it was arrested over 1000 houses, many of which were filled with merchandise, were left in ashes.

No conception can be formed of the grandeur of the scene, for at one time the burning district was covered by one vast sheet of flame that extended half a mile in length.”