The fireproof building : technology and public safety in the nineteenth-century American city / Sara E. Wermiel.

Main entry:

Wermiel, Sara E.

Title & Author:

The fireproof building : technology and public safety in the nineteenth-century American city / Sara E. Wermiel.

Publication:

Description:

viii, 301 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Series:

Studies in industry and society

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Introduction: Solving the Problem of Urban Conflagration -- 1. The Solid Masonry Fireproof Building, 1790-1840 -- 2. The Iron and Brick Fireproof Building, 1840-1860 -- 3. Response to the Great Fires: Experimentation in the 1860s to the Early 1880s -- 4. Mill Fire Protection Methods Enter the Mainstream -- 5. Triumph: The Fireproof Skyscraper -- 6. Calamity: Slow Acceptance of Adequate Fire Exits -- Conclusion: The Invisible Infrastructure of Safety.

Summary:

"The Fireproof Building traces the development of structural fire protection in America and its important consequences for building construction as well as for the safety of cities. Urban conflagrations destroyed many downtowns in the nineteenth century. To protect their property, some owners made their buildings fire-resistive - or as they were called in the past, fireproof - by using new kinds of noncombustible materials and arranging the space inside to check the spread of fire. As these methods improved and owners replaced combustible buildings with fireproof ones, urban firestorms became a thing of the past."--Jacket.

Resources:
Contributor biographical information
Publisher description

ISBN:

0801863112 (alk. paper)
9780801863110 (alk. paper)

Subject:

Building, Fireproof United States History 19th century.
Fires United States History 19th century.
Cities and towns United States History 19th century.
Construction à l'épreuve du feu États-Unis Histoire 19e siècle.
Incendies États-Unis Histoire 19e siècle.
Villes États-Unis Histoire 19e siècle.
Building, Fireproof.
Cities and towns.
Fires.
Brandveiligheid.
Technologie.
Bouwconstructies.
Bouwmaterialen.
Brandpreventie.
United States.

Form/genre:

History.

Added entries:

Studies in industry and society.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 211403
Call No.: TH1065 .W4 2000
Status: Available

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