June 30, 1900, 125 years ago: A fire breaks out on piers owned by Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL), a German shipping company, on the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey. It kills at least 326 people.
The fire began when cotton bales stored on NDL's southernmost wharf caught fire, and winds carried the flames to nearby barrels of volatile liquids, such as turpentine and oil, which exploded in rapid succession. It burned NDL's Hoboken piers to the waterline, consumed or gutted nearby warehouses, gutted 3 of NDL's major transatlantic liners, and damaged or destroyed nearly two dozen smaller craft. Most of the victims were seamen and other workers, but included women visiting one of the ships.
The piers were at the foot of 3rd and 4th Streets, across the Hudson from West 12th Street in Manhattan, New York City. Pier C Park is on the site today. This is 5 blocks north of where the Hoboken Terminal of the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad was built in 1907, now serving New Jersey Transit and the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) system.
NDL survived World War I, and barely survived World War II, with one remaining ship. It rebuilt, restored its place in international commerce, and merged with the Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) in 1970, forming Hapag-Lloyd AG.
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