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Image of the Week: View of ruins in New York after fire in 1835

View of the ruins after the great fire in New-York, Decr. 16th and 17th 1835, as seen from Exchange Place.

On a bitterly cold December evening in 1835, a fire started in a warehouse on the southeast tip of Manhattan. Strong winds and freezing temperatures worked against New York’s firefighters, resulting in the destruction of the New York Stock Exchange and much of Wall St. before the flames were extinguished the next day.

This etching (by artists Nicolino Calyo and W.J. Bennett) comes from the New York Public Library Digital Gallery, and shows the ruins from Exchange Place.

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