The Winecoff Hotel fire, of December 7, 1946, was the deadliest hotel fire in American history, killing 119 hotel occupants, including the hotel's original owners. Located at 176 Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia, the Winecoff Hotel was advertised as "absolutely fireproof". While the hotel's steel structure was indeed protected against the effects of fire, its interior finishes were combustible and the building's exit arrangements consisted of a single stairway serving all fifteen floors. All of the hotel's occupants above the fire's origin on the third floor were trapped, and the fire's survivors either were rescued from upper-story windows or jumped into nets held by firemen.
The former Winecoff Hotel, now the Ellis Hotel
The rear of the Winecoff Hotel with the fire escape stairway added during reconstruction after the fire
The alley between the Winecoff and the Mortgage Guaranty Building
One of the fire's victims, Daisy McCumber, falls after jumping from a window. She survived, with serious injuries. This photograph by Arnold Hardy won a 1947 Pulitzer Prize.
The Ellis Hotel, formerly known as the Winecoff Hotel, is located at 176 Peachtree Street NW, in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, US. Designed by William Lee Stoddart, the 15-story building opened in 1913. It is located next to 200 Peachtree, which was built as the flagship Davison's. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 31, 2009. The Ellis Hotel is best known for a fire that occurred there on December 7, 1946, in which 119 people died.
Ellis Hotel in 2020
Ellis Hotel