Death Alley: Where the Iroquois Fire Victims Fell

On December 30, 1903, the Iroquois Theatre on Randolph Street caught fire during an oversold holiday matinee with more than 2,000 people inside. It had opened only five weeks earlier and was advertised as "absolutely fireproof." About 575 people died that afternoon, and the toll eventually reached 602 — more than died in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The blaze spread so fast that many victims were found still seated in their chairs. Hundreds more were crushed in the stampede, or fell to their deaths from fire escapes. In the narrow alley behind the theater — Couch Place — at least 125 people died on the fire escapes or after falling or jumping from them. The alley runs between Dearborn and State Streets, parallel to Randolph. Locals still call it Death Alley. The disaster led directly to modern fire codes still in use today: emergency exit signs, outward-opening doors, aisle lights, and asbestos stage curtains.