From the Plaque:
THE HINCKLEY FIRE
Between three and five o'clock on the afternoon of
September 1, 1894, a raging forest fire driven by strong
southwest winds swept over the town of Hinckley, killing
248 residents. The conflagriation burned over 480 square
miles in parts of five counties, also consuming the surrounding
towns of Brook Park, Mission Creek, Miller, Partridge, and
Sandstone. At least 418 people died in the disaster.
Trains of the St. Paul and Duluth railroad and the Eastern
Minnesota Railroad carried nearly 500 people to safety
through the burning countryside. More than 1,500 individuals lost
their homes and possessions, with fire relief efforts receiving
donations from as far away as London and even Turkey as
news of the tragedy spread. The mass graves of the
Hinckley townspeople who died in the fire are marked by
a state monument in Lutheran Memorial Cemetery.
The Hinckley fire was among the worst of many that
followed the end of large scale pine logging operations in
northern Minnesota. As the virgin red and white pine
was removed, a tinder-dry refuse of stumps,
slashings, and brush provided ready fuel for
several other disastrous fires, including those at
Baudette in 1910 and at Cloquet in 1918.
ERECTED BY THE MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1985
Weather history featuring the Great Hinckley fire: (
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