The Great Boston Fire

Great Boston Fire, with author Stephanie Schorow
January 11, at 7:00 pm
At the Needham History Center, 1147 Central Avenue
Free and open to everyone. Refreshments will be served.

For two days in November, 1872, a massive fire swept through Boston, leaving the downtown in ruins and the population traumatized. Coming barely a year after the infamous Chicago fire, Boston’s inferno turned out to be one of the most expensive fires per acre in US history. Yet today few are aware of how close Boston came to destruction. Using period artwork and photographs, Stephanie Schorow masterfully recounts the fire’s history – from the foolish decisions that precipitated it, to the heroics of firefighters who fought it.

After stints as a journalist at the Boston Herald, the Associated Press and newspapers large and small, Stephanie Schorow turned to nonfiction narratives, and has written or co-written seven other books on Boston’s history. She has also ventured into fiction, with her most recent work, Cat Dreaming.