The Miracle That Started A Fire Zion City

At the turn of the twentieth century, John Alexander Dowie promised his followers something extraordinary.

He claimed divine protection. Divine healing. A city protected by faith.

 

That city was Zion City, Illinois, founded and controlled almost entirely by Dowie himself. Alcohol was banned. Doctors were discouraged. Prayer was the cure for illness, injury, and disaster. Dowie promised that faith would shield the city from harm.

 

Then the fire came.

 

In 1906 and 1907, Zion City suffered a series of devastating fires. Factories burned. Businesses were destroyed. Homes were lost. One major blaze wiped out the city’s lace factory, its largest employer.

 

There was no miracle.

 

The flames spread. Buildings collapsed. Dowie’s promises offered no protection.

 

The town rebuilt. Dowie did not.

 

Financial ruin followed the fire. His authority collapsed. His followers drifted away. Within a few years, Dowie was removed from power and disappeared from public life.

 

Faith survived in Zion City.

The buildings did not.

 

History remembered the lesson quietly: belief alone does not stop fire.