PIECE OF HISTORY: 7 died in Cedar Rapids hotel fire in 1903

Seven people died and 40 more were injured in the Feb. 20, 1903, fire that destroyed the Clifton Hotel at the corner of First Avenue and Fourth Street SE in Cedar Rapids.

Thomas Bibby and his date saw the flames around 1:30 a.m. and alerted the bellhop, Clyde Washington, and porter Noah Watkins. They sounded the alarm, but the fire spread quickly.

Guests who chose to get dressed or gather their belongings found the hotel’s stairways blocked by smoke and heat. Others ran out of the building in their nightclothes into the cold February night.

Some guests on the upper floors were able to escape by climbing onto the roof of the Cedar Rapids Plumbing Co. and then onto the National Hotel.

Six guests jumped 29.5 feet from a third-story window to escape.

Those who tried to use the fire escapes found they did not have extension ladders to reach the ground, so guests had to jump or wait for firefighters to raise ladders to them. One fire escape had been removed for renovations in 1901 and never replaced.

Authorities determined the fire had started in the hotel basement near the electrical wiring. A short likely ignited a nearby trash pile.

As a result of the Clifton and other fires, Cedar Rapids began requiring fire escapes on all three- and four-story buildings later in 1903.

Among the seven people who died in the fire were S. Jackson, E.G. Young, L.C. Burnett, W.A. Mowery, G.E. Holmes, and Dr. S.G. Grove.

Less than a year after the fire, construction began on the Allison Hotel at the site.

Tara Templeman is curator at The History Center. Comments: curator@historycenter.org