The Hotel Downey Fire
February 6, 1912
The
site of a hotel since 1866, the Downey Hotel was the favorite stopping
place for politicians visiting Lansing. As the Lansing State
Journal stated, "More political plots have been hatched in the old
bar and in the various rooms of the building than any other tavern in
Michigan."


The hotel was expanded in 1907 when two stories were added to the structure and the new sixth floor became a convention hall.
At 6:10 pm,
on the night of February 6, 1912, an electrical fire began in a
transformer at the top of the elevator shaft and quickly spread through
the roof. By midnight the fire was under control, but the upper two
floors were gutted and the lower ones were damaged by smoke and water.
The damage was estimated at $125,000.



