By the summer of 1913, Binghamton, NY was booming.

It was the fastest-growing city in New York State. Fifteen thousand people had arrived in just three years. New neighborhoods appeared almost overnight. Factories lined the rivers. The local economy was boosted. Downtown hummed with streetcars, storefronts, the sound of industry and the sidewalks were packed with people.

On Tuesday morning, July 22nd, the city awoke, already overheated.

At 8 a.m., the temperature had already climbed into the high eighties. Windows were thrown open along Court Street. Chocolates melted in shop windows. Gas lamps baked the insides of photography studios. And at the Binghamton Clothing Company on Wall St. every window and door stood open in a losing battle against the heat.

Inside, 111 people were already at work. And the hum of the sewing machines up on the 4th floor could be heard on the streets below. Looking back, the record breaking heat feels like an eerie premonition of what was to come that fateful July afternoon at the Binghamton Clothing Company.

SOURCES:

“Devil’s Fire” WSKG Public Media Documentary: https://www.pbs.org/video/the-devils-fire-3lpvou/

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=198174

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=256771

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1913_Binghamton_Factory_fire

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/binghamton-clothing-factory-fire-monument

https://www.nytimes.com/1913/07/24/archives/the-fire-at-binghamton.html