Georgetown, like so many Gold Rush towns, had its share of devastating fires. The first in 1852 burned the brand new city to the ground. The old town had in the area off Lower Main Street. As the new town was rebuilt at its present site, extra-wide streets which we see today were constructed to prevent the spreading of embers from building to building.
The town organized a fire department, The Mountaineer Hook and Ladder Company, in 1854. They paraded their new Engine #1 on the Fourth of July Parade of 1856, only to find themselves battling a fire three days later, which started in the business section of the new town and quickly spread to engulf most of the city, including the new fire engine.
Photo: Placer County Museums Written on photo: “Georgetown, El Dorado Co., 1869”
Church Street was saved when the women of town used the then open Georgetown Ditch to gather water and pass it along to the men that were arriving from the outlying mining claims to battle the fire. Only the Shannon Knox House and the town hall on upper Main Street were saved.
A fire on August 18th of 1858 was extinguished before it destroyed the whole town, but on May 28th, 1869, a fire originating in the Miners Hotel on Main Street would quickly spread to engulf much of Georgetown. This fire was suspicious as the owner of the Miners Hotel, a Mr. Stahlam, survived the fire, but his wife, three children, and the mother's helper were all killed, as the doors were locked, preventing their escape.
Photo: Placer County Museums Written oh Photo: “Georgetown burned, May 1869”
These rare photographs show the townspeople looking through the remains of their town, which they would rebuild with better construction and thicker block and brick walls.