Burning of
the Capitol
There was plenty of excitement
in Raleigli hack in 1831 when
the Stale House, Library and
several private residences were
destroyed in this disastrous fire.
By S. J. ALEXANDER
Early Tuesday morning, June 21,
1831. an alarm was sounded through¬
out the state capital, and Raleigh citi¬
zens, wearily climbing out of bed.
learned that the capitol was on fire.
Men from all parts of the town rushed
to Capitol Square to do their part in
saving the structure.
It had rained the night before and
the building was still damp, but even
with the dampness and the absence
of wind, the building was destroyed.
The fire was first discovered around
seven o’clock, but it had probably
been smoldering for half an hour ear¬
lier before breaking through to the out¬
side of the building. Flames shot
through the roof and covered the top
of the capitol. and soon the top began
falling in and by nine o’clock the walls
alone were standing.
The grove of oak trees, the damp¬
ness and the lack of wind kept the
fire from enveloping the city, but de¬
spite the efforts of the fire-fighters,
the State Library and two or three
private homes within a short distance
of the capitol were completely de¬
stroyed.
When it was decided that the capi¬
tol could not be saved, the state papers
were the next concern. Papers of the
Comptroller’s office, the office of the
Clerk of the Supreme Court and the
offices of the clerks of the two houses
of the Legislature were saved.
Next to the loss of the capitol it¬
self or probably even more impor¬
tant. the statue of George Washington,
by Canova, was totally destroyed. The
people of the state had erected the
statue to the father of the country at
an expense of $30,000.
The Raleigh Register describes the
burning of the statue in this way:
★
"After the house was filled with
flame, the statue presented an awful
aspect being alternately enveloped in
dark volumes of smoke and curious
sheets of reddening blaze; and when
the dome fell in. the head and arms
were broken off and a great portion
of the figure was reduced to a state
of calcination."
The Washington statue stood in the
center of the rotunda.
Even though the statue was lost a
full length portrait of Washington, by
Sully, which hung near the Speaker’s
Chair in the House of Commons, was
saved.
At the time of the burning of the
capitol some repair work was being
made on the structure and a new zinc
roof had been almost completed. For
several days there was much specula¬
tion as to the origin of the fire and on
June 30, 1831. The Star anil North
Carolina State Gazette came out with
this item on the fire's origin.
"It is now generally believed that
the fire originated from the careless¬
ness of the workman in soldering the
roof. He very improperly carried up
a coal of fire through the inside of
the house, between two shingles,
which were in a blaze before he
reached the top; and in passing
through the garret, a draft of air from
the door leading out upon the roof, it
is thought, blew a spark into some
combustible matter between the roof
and ceiling, which kindled while the
hands were at breakfast.’’
In spite of the burning, which was
described as "an awful calamity”
and about which one editor wrote.
"It is with indescribable emotions of
regret that we announce this awful
catastrophe," the editor of The Star
seemed to think it was a pretty good
thing that the old building burned,
because in his opinion, it would other¬
wise have collapsed.
"Since the fire, the greater portion
of the old walls has tumbled down
and the remainder is in a tottering
condition. The two wings, however, on
the cast and west, which were only a
few years ago added to the building,
remain firm. It is the opinion of the
most experienced and intelligent gen¬
tlemen who have visited the ruins of
that splendid edifice, that, without the
support of those wings, the building
would not have stood to meet its de¬
struction by fire; and even with their
support, it is believed by many that
such was the weakness of the old walls
and the rotten crumbling state of the
bricks, they must eventually give way,
probably at no distant period and
brought the whole fabric to the ground.
The facts developed certainly prove
that they were very weak and inse¬
cure." the editor wrote.
Probably the greatest loss in the fire
was the Canova statue and the fact
that the fire did not spread through¬
out the town was the greatest gain.
There had been a disastrous fire just
six months before in January 1831, that
spread throughout the entire city.
The General Assembly at its ses¬
sion of November 1832. resolved to
rebuild on the old site, and $50,000
was appropriated for the purpose. Sev¬
eral other appropriations had to be
made before the building was com¬
pleted.
THE STATE, SEPTEMBER IS. 1951
11
