Te Aro House after the Great Fire of 1879

Te Aro House on the corner of Cuba Street and Dixon Street. A posed photograph following the Great Fire of 1879 (15 June) showing how workers used wet sacks and cloths to protect the building from the fire which destroyed neighbouring blocks through to Wakefield Street and what is today Victoria Street. Dixon Street acted as a fire break but the blistered paint and windows shattered from the heat indicate how close Te Aro House came to combusting and the fire spreading to the block bordering the western side of Cuba Street up to Ghuznee Street.