Wake County, NC - Bicentennial File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Barbara Kawamoto Reprinted with permission of the News & Observer and cannot be reproduced without permission. ‘Flames Soon Enveloped the Whole Building’ The News and Observer December 29, 1991 Raleigh 200/The New Capital By R. B. Haywood When fire destroyed the State House in 1831, young Richard Haywood had a ringside seat. His parents’ home was at the corner of Wilmington and Edenton Streets, directly across from Capitol Square. He remembered the event 50 years later in his memoirs. About seven o’clock in the morning of June 21st, 1831, the people were startled from their slumbers by the ringing of bells and the sad announcement that the Capitol was on fire. I ran to the east gate and discovered flames issuing from the skylight on the northeast side of the dome. If it had been possible to have gotten on top of the Capitol the flames could have been extinguished with a single bucket of water, but the only mode of egress was through the skylight, which was on fire. Every one was powerless and stood motionless with fear for many minutes until the flames had spread through the roof. Many now rushed in to save such articles as could be moved and large numbers gathered around the statue of Washington and made Herculean efforts to move it out. They succeeded in moving it about four feet but when the alarm was given that the dome was about to fall in, a general stampede was made from the building. The flames soon enveloped the whole building and the sight through the halls was perfectly magnificent. Molten glass was dropping from the beautiful French chandeliers. The red glare on the statue of Washington with its white life-like appearance gave to the scene a diabolic appearance that can better be imagined than described. The dome soon fell in with a tremendous crash, and (Antonio) Canova’s great statue was broken into a hundred pieces. With this the Capitol was destroyed almost entirely, a valuable library, the accumulation of forty years. Jack Bell, a tinner by trade, was the originator of the fire. He had been soldering some leaks in the zinc roofing and left his soldering furnace on the steps of the skylight and had gone to breakfast. Poor Jack, nearly scared to death, was hauled up before the Mayor next day on the charge of setting the fire intentionally . . . and not enjoying a very enviable character, the large crowd present, I think, were willing to hang him on general principles. But it was well established that whilst there was culpable negligence, there was no criminal intent. ============================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. ==============================================================