5. Despite Fireproofing, A Fire Destroyed Four Floors of Temple Court

On the morning of April 2, 1893, a fire broke out in room 725 of the Annex (a fireproofed, 10-story attachment to the original building built in 1890). Fortunately, the two people in the building escaped, but the fire severely ruined the annex’s uppermost four floors. As shown in the above video, the basic structure remained intact, along with its fireproofing. Engineering News called the fire “the most serious fire which has ever occurred, so far as we recall, in a thoroughly fireproof office building.”