1877 U.S. Patent Office fire

1877 U.S. Patent Office fire

Patent Office 1877 fire
Date	24 September 1877 (1877-09-24)
Location	U.S. Patent Office, Washington, D.C., USA
Coordinates	38°53′52″N 77°01′23″W / 38.89778°N 77.022936°W / 38.89778; -77.022936
Outcome	Entire west and north wing of Patent Office building burnt.

The Patent Office fire of 1877 was the second of two major fires of the U.S. Patent Office. It occurred in the 1864 Patent Office Building of Washington, D.C., on September 24, 1877. The building was constructed to be fireproof, but many of its contents were not. About 80,000 models and 600,000 copy drawings were burned to some degree. No patents were completely lost, however (unlike the situation with the first Patent Office fire), and the Patent Office was soon reopened for recordings.