The following interesting article on some
of the fires which have occurred in Eldred Borough since 1880 was compiled
by B.G. McFall on the occasion of the Annual Firemen's banquet here.
January 28th, 1937. This article should prove very interesting to present
residents as well as former residents of Eldred.
As this banquet is given by and for the Firemen of Eldred
it seems fitting to address you upon the subject of Fires and what they
have meant to Eldred and vicinity..
In order to fully appreciate the danger in fire hazards,
and the need of a well equipped fire fighting unit, I will ask you to go
back to the year 1878 for that year marked the actual beginning of real
industrial activity in this vicinity, occasioned by the bringing in of
large producing wells in the oilfields of Haymaker and Indian Creek. In
July 1878, the Central Hotel was built by Reuben Dennis, on the
present site of the Odd Fellows Temple, and, strange as it may seem, it
was the first fire of record in this town as it was destroyed by fire two
years later on August 14th, 1880.
The town was booming and Mr. Dennis lost no time
in rebuilding, and four months later, on January 19th, 1881, he opened
the new Central Hotel. At this time Eldred had a population of 1165 and
had been incorporated into a borough on December 22nd, 1880, the New Central
Hotel being the first hotel to be opened in the borough. Eldred was built
in typical oil country style all the rules of safety being disregarded
in the scramble to get a building ready for occupancy, so that in January
1880, the business section of the town consisted of two rows of hastily
constructed frame buildings lining both sides of Main Street, with wide
plank sidewalks, built well off the ground on both sides of the street,
so that they were separated by the Main Street by only about 40 feet, about
the width of the present brick pavement.
There were in Eldred in 1880 fourteen grocery stores,
three millinery stores, six feed stores, one opera house, two drug stores,
ten liquor stores, three dry goods stores, three clothing stores, one bank,
six laundries, nine doctors and one newspaper office.
These were soon to suffer for their careless disregard
of the fire menace by erecting hastily constructed frame buildings so closely
together. It was late in the evening of September 30th, 1881 that the alarm
was given and the people were awakened (they went to bed earlier in those
days) to see flames issuing from the Jackson Opera House building,
located on the present site of the First National Bank. There had been
a show that night, and it is believed that the fire started from carelessness
in closing up afterward. Kerosene lamps were the means of lighting, and
exploding lamps were the cause of many fires in those good old days. But,
whatever the cause, the results were apparent as the flames soon reached
out to the buildings on each side. There was no fire protection of any
kind, and vain efforts were made to check the spread of the fire by the
use of water from wells, but to no avail. The flames spread rapidly in
both directions - jumped across the street and then began a race to see
which side could burn the faster. A call was sent to Olean for help, and
a steamer pump was brought here, but there being no water available, it
could not be used, and there was a hot time in the old town that night.
The fire burned over about five acres on the East side of Main Street from
the old side of the Wlch drug store north of the present Market Basket
store, south to the present site of the State liquor store, and on the
West side from the present site of Odell's grocery store to the
site of the Young hardware store. The wide space between the Young
store and the building recently occupied by Robinson's shoe store,
together with the availability of many men with buckets of water which
were thrown onto this building stopped the ravages of the flames at that
point. It was some spectacle. My parents lived in their home then located
in the rear of the shoe shop built by my father when he located here in
1879. I was five years old and acted as scout on the job, my parents sending
me over to stand on the stone steps in front of the Central House to keep
track of the fire, while they packed their household goods prepatory to
moving out if the fire was not checked at the Young storebuilding.
Fortunately it was stopped at that point, but my job
gave me a good opportunity to view the catastrophe, although I was too
young to fully comprehend the seriousness of it, other than it was some
big fire.
This was the first fire after the incorporation of Eldred
as a borough and to have the whole business section wiped out in this manner
was indeed a catastrophe. Following this fire the work of rebuilding began
at once, and in order to reduce the danger of fire spreading, all buildings
erected on the West side of the street were moved back eleven feet to provide
a wider street, a fact generally appreciated by the citizens of the borough
today. With a new town rising from the ashes, some preparation was made
for fire protection and a 500 barrel wooden tank was erected on Chrisman
hill back of town, and a three inch line of pipe laid from that through
the business portion of the town. A hook and ladder truck and hand drawn
hose cart were purchased.
The next fire occurred on September 17th, 1884, when
the St. Elmo Hotel burned. In this fire, a huge Newfoundland dog called
Old Heck, owned by the proprietor, B.W. Rice, did much to save lives
by awakening the sleeping guests in the burning building, but the faithful
old dog was trapped on his last rescue trip, and was burned to death. His
death was mourned by the people here, who knew of his heroic efforts
in saving human lives. The year 1885 was an off one for fires in the borough,
but a severe one burned five buildings at Larabee, with a loss of over
$10,000.00 On January 21st, 1886, the Charles and Shaw sawmill burned.
And on April 18 of the same year a large barn at the rear of the Central
House burned. Between 1887 and 1890, fires destroyed the Dean Planing Mill,
Halls sawmill, the large J. J. Newman mill at Larabee and C.
H. Havens mill at Windfall. Sawmills seem to have become a threatening
menace to insurance companies, and in 1891, the large Wainman sawmill,
south of town, burned. On April 21st Coleman's Hotel, located east of the
depot, burned, but was hurriedly rebuilt, only to again be destroyed on
April 21st, 1892, in which fire C. M. Coleman, the proprietor lost
his life by going into the building to secure some valuables, and a roll
of money was found grasped in his charred hands. On January 19th, 1891
D. L. Robbins shoe store located on the site of the present city
building, was burned with a loss of $10.000.00. Eighteen Ninety-Two was
a bad year for fires in Eldred, there being six during the year as follows:
Coleman's Hotel, mentioned above, A. T. Barden
store on the site of Mitchell's garage, N. Krohn's dry-goods
store, on the present site at Gabriel's store, T. J. Ivers
tailor shop, located on the vacant lot near the post office, A. Harmon's
store located just north of the present Methodist parsonage, and the last,
for the year was serious as it razed four buildings, located on the present
site of Gabriel's to McDonalds store. The cause of these
fires was attributed to a fire-bug, who was run out of town. Whether he
was guilty or not may have been good guess work, for only one fire occurred
during the next year when Mike Warner's planing mill, located
on the point across the river west of the old bridge crossing, burned.
On August 6th, 1894 the Commercial House burned. This was located across
the railroad track, opposite the home of Chas. Otto. During 1895,
there were three fires, one destroying Walsh's and Cull's
eating places on the site of the Gold Eagle hotel, and the Pennsylvania
depot, another, T. C. Wainman's sawmill located on the bend in the
river opposite the Shields residence on South Main Street, and the
third destroyed H. Eaton's residence on Edson Street. In 1896 the
residences of E. A. McKee and T. C. Wainman were burned.
On April 13th 1897, Seth Rockwell's home was destroyed. The year
1898 was a notable one-no fires being recorded. On February 11th, 1899,
McFarland's Bottling works afforded a most spectacular blaze. The
thermometer registered about 40 below zero and the water froze on its way
from the hose-nozzle to the flames, and when the flames were finally conquered,
a monument of ice marked the spot. This building was west of Pennsylvania
station. On July 14, 1899, the new waterworks were completed and the tank
on Chrisman hill abandoned. With this new water supply, fire protection
was extended to all part of the borough. The first use of it being made
at a small blaze in F. W. Crowley's tailor shop, now occupied by
Washburns jewelry store. In 1900 Squires planing mill located west
of the railroad track and back of the present home of William Charles
was burned, and this about finished the mill business in this vicinity,
although this mill was rebuilt, and was sold by the sheriff to J. D.
Dowsing soon after. In 1901, A. Krohns and J. B. Dennis bicycle
store burned. Bicycles were then a popular means of walking while sitting
down, and Dennis cycle store was the first and last bicycle garage
in Eldred. These stores were located on the site of George Russell's
store, and this fire was the third burn-out for the Krohn store.
On September 2nd, fire damaged Iver's taylor shop, located
on the present vacant lot south of the post office. No serious fires occurred
here for the next two years, 1902 and 1903, but during this period occurred
a transition in the industrial life of the borough. From that of lumbering
to that of the manufacture of glass, with the advent of the Eldred Window
Glass factory located on Mechanic Street, and the erection of many new
homes. But the prosperity was short lived. The success of the Eldred Window
Glass Company encouraged the mis-directed plans of certain interests and
resulted in the erection of another glass plant, on Bennett Street, known
as the Kervin factory, which, with an insufficient, made the operation
of both plants an impossibility. The large flattening oven building of
the Eldred Window Glass Company was burned, but good work of the firefighters
confined the loss to the one building. A peculiar personal experience resulted
from this fire. I was working in the Eagle office, Mr. A. D. Gould,
the owner, being also the local fire insurance agent, I having nothing
to do with this part of the business however. When the loss occurred at
the glass factory, Mr. Gould was absent on a several weeks' editorial
trip. When the owners of the glass company came in with their insurance
policies, I did not know where to find Mr. Gould, so I notified
each insurance company direct, and it so happened that Mr. Gould
was visiting one of the insurance company offices in Chicago when my letter
regarding the fire reached them. And also, during this vacation trip of
Mr. Gould's I accepted a risk on some household goods for a party
who moved into C. Prouty's flat. The premium on the policy was not
due for thirty days, and before that time had passed, a fire occurred,
my new customer suffered a loss, he had not paid a cent on his policy,
and when Mr. Gould came home he had to pay the loss. My experience
as a fire insurance agent was not so extensive but it was expensive while
it lasted.
Since the above, to the present time there have occurred
about a dozen disastrous fires in the borough, and I will refer to them
briefly as follows.
First- St. Raphael's church. This fire started in the
steeple one afternoon during a hard electrical storm. The blaze was soon
extinguished, or so it was thought, but some smoldering embers must have
been left undiscovered, for at nearly midnight, following, a second alarm
sounded, but the fire had a good start, and the church was destroyed. This
was replaced by the beautiful structure which now occupies the site on
First Street. On January 19th, 1921, the handle factory of C. Prouty
and Company was destroyed, at a loss estimated at $75.000.00, without
a cent of insurance. This mill was rebuilt, more nearly fire-proof, only
again to be burned about one year ago. It has since been rebuilt, more
nearly fire proof of tile and brick. Four dwellings burned and not replaced
were Pete Nolan on King Street; A. B. Henry on the same street
Fred Manning on South Main Street, and a vacant house owned by J.
Hal Robarts on Edson Street. On Eldred's Main Street, the building
formerly J. C.Welch drug store near the bandstand, owned by B.H.
Moody, and occupied by R, H. Frisbee as a grocery store caught
fire when it is said the proprietor tried to start a new fire in the stove
with the aid of of what he thought was kerosene but which turned out to
be gasoline. The fire started allright, but it was not confined to the
stove, and the building and its contents burned and the site is still vacant.
Shea's newsroom south of the post office was a hot fire, and a total
loss, the site being still vacant. Rhodes Variety Store and Frank
Howard's harness shop gave the firemen a hard fight. and only by good
work on their part, was Wallen's drug store and probably the entire
corner group of buildings saved. The brick building now occupied by the
State Liquor store and the Gas Company office now occupy this site. Across
the street from the Rhodes-Howard fire, the building owned by Mrs.
Mullett and the confectionary store of Charles Otto burned,
and this site is still vacant. The story is told of how a friendly game
of poker was going on in one of these buildings, and when the players became
disturbed by the smoke, and realized that the building was afire, it being
in the wee small hours of the morning, one of the players beat it for home,
got into bed, and was awakened (?) by his wife when the alarm sounded for
the fire. It is said that one must be a quick thinker to be a poker player.
One of the lucky but disastrous fires was that which completely destroyed
the Young Hardware store. This was a large frame building, containing a
large stock of hardware, paints, oils, etc, etc and it burned very fast.
There was no wind that night, and the intense heat from this fire was directed
skyward, but, in the second story, Mrs. W. A. Young, widow of the
former proprietor, an invalid and unable to assist herself, could not be
rescued by those who tried hard to do so, and she perished in the flames.
This site is still vacant. The burning of the I. O.O. F. hall (the remodeled
old Central House) in December 1931, was a serious fire, and might have
resulted in greater loss of buildings, had the firemen not been well equipped
to fight the fierce blaze. Even then, several buildings were in grave danger
for a time, as the large hall building burned rapidly and threw an intense
heat on other buildings in the vicinity. A modern brick I.O.O.F. Temple
now stands on this site. And so, during the past 56 years, Eldred has had
over sixty fires, over half of which were of a size that meant a serious
loss to the property owner, and also to the borough in reduced taxes. The
smaller fires have not been mentioned but many of these might have resulted
in greater losses but for the courage and brave efforts of the volunteer
firefighters of Eldred.
And now just a brief reference to those who have guarded
the safety of this town from the fire menace. Although a Hook and Ladder
Company had been organized in 1879 it was not much more than a parade unit,
and was in a strong rivalry with the Go-Devil Hook and Ladder Company of
Duke Center and the test of 1881 showed how inadequate they were in combating
fire. With the building of the water-works, a hose company was organized,
but, as a unit organization, it did not function, and eventually T.
L. Sartwell became the recognized chief at all fires, and every man
worked diligently as needed, under his direction. After his death, attempts
to organize occurred at intervals, and as this continued, the equipment
became obsolete, and the water pressure in-adequate, and the boys in general
were heartily discouraged. This condition had reached a point where it
was apparent that, unless something was done, insurance rates in the borough
were due for an advance, if not blanket cancellation, so in 1930 the Borough
Council arranged for the purchase of a modern pumper, new hose, a new chassis
for the chemical truck a club room for the firemen, and a pat on the back
to encourage them to get busy and show the people that Eldred could have
a fire company to be proud of. Today, with over 100 members the boys have
well proven their ability to make good, and residents of Eldred and vicinity
may feel well repaid for all they have done to bring about this efficient
and well equipped firemen’s organization which compares favorably with
any town in the country the size of Eldred.
Back
To Natural and Man Made Disasters
|