The Great Fire of Troy occurred on May 11, 1862, and destroyed a large part of the downtown area of Troy, New York. The damage caused by the fire was approximately $3,000,000, with between about 500 to 600 buildings destroyed over .

Background

The

Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad The Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad was chartered on April 14, 1832. It completed between Troy and Ballston Spa on March 19, 1836. The railroad was largely conceived and built by businessmen of Troy in response to Albany's construction of the ...

Green Island Bridge The Green Island Bridge crosses the Hudson River in New York, connecting Green Island with Troy, passing through Starbuck Island. It opened September 12, 1981. History The original Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad bridge was a wood-truss cove ...

was a wood-truss covered bridge built in 1832, and used by trains to cross the Hudson River from downtown Troy. The majority of the buildings in downtown area were also made of timber, making them susceptible to fires. Troy had recently bought new steam-powered fire trucks, which were more efficient than the handheld pumpers used at the time.

Incident

On May 11, 1862, a strong wind was blowing in downtown Troy. Around noon, a train, driven by George C. Troyibald, had left the Troy Union Depot and was crossing the Green Island Bridge when sparks from the engine caused the wooden shingles on the roof of the bridge to catch on fire. Parts of the burning structure, floating with the river current, imperiled the steamboats and the smaller craft tied up along the wharves. Fueled by heavy winds, the embers from the fire spread throughout the downtown.

Impact

Within six hours, the fire had been extinguished, partly due to the use of the new fire appliances. However, the fires had burned through over 500 buildings and taken the lives of 8 people. Most of the destroyed buildings were private residences. The entire campus of

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...

, located in downtown Troy at the time, was destroyed by the fire.

Aftermath

Troy quickly rebuilt, fueled by the need to get production back up for the Civil War, with most of the burnt areas either been rebuilt or in the process of being rebuilt in six months after the fire.

Exhibit

In 2012 the

Rensselaer County Historical Society The Rensselaer County Historical Society (RCHS) is a non-profit, historical society and museum, to promote the study of the history of the Rensselaer County, NY. RCHS was founded in 1927, and originally operated out of a single room in the Troy ...

opened an exhibit commemorating the 150th anniversary of the fire.

References

{{coord, 42.732, -73.687, type:event_region:US-NY, display=title Troy, New York 1862 fires in the United States Urban fires in the United States May 1862 events 1862 in New York (state)