1900 Hoboken Docks Fire
Coordinates: 40°44′19″N 74°01′36″W / 40.7387°N 74.0268°W
The 1900 Hoboken Docks fire occurred on June 30, 1900, and killed at least 326 persons in and around the Hoboken, New Jersey piers of the Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) shipping company. The piers were located in New York Harbor, at the foot of 3rd and 4th Streets in Hoboken, across the North River (Hudson River) from Manhattan in New York City. The area, a few blocks north of Hoboken Terminal, is now mostly part of the Hudson River, without docks; a waterfront bicycle path lines it. There is, however, a "Pier C Park" on the northern side of the disaster area, which juts out into the water.
The fire began when cotton bales stored on NDL’s southernmost wharf caught fire, and winds carried the flames to nearby barrels of volatile liquids, such as turpentine and oil, which exploded in rapid succession. It burned NDL’s Hoboken piers to the waterline, consumed or gutted nearby warehouses, gutted three of NDL’s major transatlantic liners, and damaged or destroyed nearly 24 smaller craft. Most of the victims were seamen and other workers, but included women visiting one of the ships.
Many of the deaths occurred as the flames reached several of NDL’s transatlantic steamships docked at the piers, including the Saale, Main, and Bremen. These ocean liners, which caught fire while their coal-fired steam engines were cold, became deathtraps for dozens of seamen and visitors who were unable to reach safety on deck, squeeze through portholes, or otherwise escape.
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