Photos from 1871 Peshtigo fire in Wisconsin, the deadliest on record in United States

A group of men survey the ruins of Peshtigo buildings after the Peshtigo fire in Marinette County, Wis., in 1871.

Buildings destroyed in the 1871 Peshtigo fire in Marinette County, Wis.

Burned out streets photographed after the 1871 Peshtigo fire in Marinette County, Wis.

Burned out areas along the Peshtigo River photographed after the 1871 fire in Marinette County, Wis.

An undated painting by Mel Kishner shows residents attempting to escape the 1871 Peshtigo fire via the Peshtigo River.

An undated painting by Mel Kishner shows families huddled in a field during the Peshtigo Fire in 1871.

This image of the Peshtigo fire shows people seeking refuge in the Peshtigo River during the fire of 1871. The drawing originally appeared in Harper's Weekly, Vol. 15, 1871, page 1037.

This engraving of the Peshtigo fire shows people and livestock trying to escape the flames. The drawing originally appeared in Harper's Weekly, Vol. 15, 1871, pages 1104-1105.

The Peshtigo Fire Cemetery is on the National Register of Historic Places. This 1976 Press photo shows a plaque detailing the events of the 1871 fire.

A 1976 Press Photo shows the Peshtigo Fire Museum. It commemorates the 1871 fire that killed at least 800 people and destroyed the Marinette County community along with large swaths of the surrounding area.

A tombstone lists the names and ages of Fredericke Lemke and her five daughters who perished on October 8, 1871, during the Peshtigo fire.

A 1976 Press Photo shows the simple sign marking the way to the mass burial plot in the Peshtigo Fire Cemetery where 350 unidentified victims of the 1871 fire were buried.

A 1968 Press Photo shows one of only two structures that survived the Peshtigo fire in 1871. It was under construction at the time with the basement dug and flooring laid. The house, completed after the fire, was occupied by a survivor of the 1871 disaster, Will Dolan.

A painting inside the Peshtigo Fire Museum depicts the horrendous circumstances of Oct. 8, 1871.

A photo of Fr. Peter Pernin seen at the Peshtigo Fire Museum.

A charred bible that was found open to the passage Psalm 106, 107 on display at the Peshtigo Fire Museum on Sept. 28, 2021, in Peshtigo, Wis.

Although the writing is mostly illegible, this piece of paper dated Nov. 12, 1872, may connect to Brown County survivors of the Peshtigo Fire. Warren Gerds/Press-Gazette