The Hotel Downey Fire

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.