Hamilton Hotel destroyed in
fire of the century
December 22, 1955

The “most spectacular and biggest fire” ever seen in Bermuda ripped through Hamilton Hotel three days before Christmas.

Hundreds got out of their beds and headed into Hamilton to watch the flames, streets were cordoned off and people evacuated from nearby buildings.

The fire blazed all night, and the building—located on the current site of Hamilton City Hall—was totally destroyed.

There were, however,  no fatalities or significant damage to neighbouring buildings in the blaze The Bermudian called “Bermuda’s bonfire of the century.”

It was an ignominious end to a city landmark that had opened as Bermuda’s first major hotel in 1861, but whose importance had been eclipsed by newer hotels like the Princess.

Hamilton Hotel had in fact become a white elephant and was not even operating as a hotel at the time of the fire.

Government had taken it off the Corporation of Hamilton’s hands 19 years earlier and moved  some of its departments including  Transport Control, Education, the Trade Development Board (forerunner of the Tourism Department) and Public Works into the building.

The fire broke out in a storeroom in the back of the building around 9 p.m. on December 22. It was extinguished about two hours later.

But at 2 a.m. the following morning, two police officers on duty outside the hotel heard an explosion and discovered a fire had broken out in a section of the building occupied by St. John Ambulance. Twenty minutes later, about a third of the building was in flames.

Firemen battled the blaze throughout the night, and as it became evident the building could not be saved, they concentrated their efforts on preventing its spread to other buildings.

They were successful in that regard, but Hamilton Hotel itself was a smouldering ruin. The scope of the fire led to appeals for mass assistance. At one point the Hamilton fire siren sounded continuously for five minutes. 

Hamilton Fire Brigade led the fire-fighting effort, assisted by St. George’s Fire Brigade, personnel from the U.S. Naval Base, the Prospect Garrison in Devonshire and three Royal Navy ships. But their combined efforts were hampered by a lack of coordination and direction.

Numerous Government documents were destroyed, but a majority of paintings belonging to the Bermuda Art Association, which also operated from the building, were salvaged.

Estimates of financial losses were in the hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The building was insured for £50,000. When insurer Bermuda Fire and Marine handed over a cheque to Government for the full amount 10 days later, it was said to be the largest insurance claim ever paid in Bermuda.

There were suspicions that arson was the cause, but the investigation was hampered by the widespread damage.

In January 1956, Parliament approved £11,5000 to be spent on demolition. In 1960, a brand-new Hamilton City Hall opened on the site.

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Source: The Bermudian, February 1956; Another World: Bermuda and the Rise of Modern Tourism by Duncan McDowall