TROY — Gale force winds ripped across the city on May 10, 1862, a Saturday afternoon.

A train had steamed out of the downtown Troy Union Depot and was crossing the wooden covered Green Island Bridge when sparks from the engine set the structure on fire.

It wasn't long before the burning bridge's flames were whipped up by the winds and burning pieces of the bridge were flying into downtown Troy.

A firestorm swept the city of wooden buildings.

"Great fire commencing at half past 12," was the simple note William Gurley of W.& L.E. Gurley, now Gurley Precision Instruments, jotted down in his date book.

By nightfall six hours later, downtown's 4th Ward was a charred landscape of 75 acres where 670 buildings once stood. Despite the conflagration that consumed downtown only about eight people died.

"I turned up Grand Division St. and at the Troy City Bank saw the belfry of the 6th St. Church blazing. The air was full of smoke and cinders," a Troy woman, Cousin Aurora, wrote her Cousin Allie on May 12, 1862, two days after the blaze, in a letter now in the collection of the Rensselaer County Historical Society.

"All were working with pails putting out the cinders that lit on the roofs of the houses, barns and sheds of that block," Cousin Aurora continues.

While the country continues to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, Troy is marking the sesquicentennial of its Great Fire, an event that reworked its urban fabric.

The stories of Gurley, Cousin Aurora and other 1862 residents are told in a new Rensselaer County Historical Society exhibit, "The air was full of smoke and cinders" — Troy's Great Fire of 1862.

The exhibit opens at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, on the 150th anniversary of the Great Fire.

"What was going on in Troy in 1862. What happened during the fire and what happened after the fire" is what is addressed, said Stacy Pomeroy Draper, RCHS curator, who organized the exhibit.

Putting the Great Fire's story together means touching on the lives of people who survived or died in the fire. RCHS is near to figuring out Cousin Aurora's identity.

For those who perished, such as Zenas Carey of Grand Division Street and Margaret Murray of Eighth Street, the exhibit has their death certificates. Both say they died accidentally. And there's the picture of Ranson Haight's tombstone that reads "It was God's will."

Gurley withdrew about $500, the equivalent of two year's pay, from the bank as the fire burned, allowing the company to begin rebuilding immediately.

The consuming flames didn't advance wooden building by wooden building, Draper said. The strong winds blew burning pieces ahead causing the fire to jump throughout downtown. Part of the exhibit includes melted glass recovered from the flames and period-related items.

Draper described the city's 1862 fire ravaged scenery as equivalent to the devastation left behind by natural disasters.

The damage was estimated at $3 million in 1862. The website MeasuringWorth,com estimated the cost of rebuilding would be equivalent to roughly $7.82 billion today.

Troy is often referred to as the Silicon Valley of the 19th century due to its cutting edge technology and wealth. It was here that horseshoes were produced by the millions for the Union Army cavalry; the iron plates were made for the U.S.S. Monitor; and other war supplies were made.

As the city burned, the telegraph wires heated up with messages for help, Draper said. Fire departments from Albany, Waterford, Greenbush, West Troy and Lansingburgh came by steamship and railroad to join the fight.

More Information If you go Exhibit: "The air was full of smoke and cinders" - Troy's Great Fire of 1862 Where: Rensselaer County Historical Society, located on 57 Second St., Troy When: Opens 5:30 p.m., Thursday; runs through Aug. 18. Walking tour: Of area impacted by the Great Fire When: 10:30 a.m., Saturday, leaving from the market table at the Troy Waterfront Farmers' Market. Tour is $5 per person, free for society members. Also: Society Curator Stacy Pomeroy Draper is available to give illustrated lectures about the fire; contact the historical society. Info: 272-7232; www.rchsonline.org See More Collapse

Troy's firefighting battle was successful, Draper said due in part to technology. The city had three of the newest steam engines for firefighting. Those engines were moved around downtown to battle the fire, Draper said.

Fire Capt. Charles Green rescued three women in hoop skirts who were trapped by the flames, Draper said.

Rebuilding Troy began immediately. The Green Island Bridge, the first railroad bridge to span the Hudson River was reconstructed by July 1862, Draper said.

The Civil War was a boom time for Troy, said P. Thomas Carroll, executive director of RiverSpark Hudson-Mohawk Heritage Area.

"Since it was in the middle of the Civil War, they rebuilt the city very fast," Carroll said.

One impact of the fire was that Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute moved from downtown up the hill after its buildings were destroyed, Carroll said.

By November 1862, Draper said that most of Troy's downtown lots either had completed buildings or were in the process of rebuilding.

"The city didn't stop. The look of the city changed. Buildings were brick and metal," Draper said.

Draper will lead a walking tour of downtown Troy to describe the fire at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The cost is $5 per person and free for RCHS members. The tour departs from the market table at the Troy Waterfront Farmers' Market.

kcrowe@timesunion.com • 518-454-5084 • @KennethCrowe