DuBois' Great Fire, June 18, 1888

DuBois' Great Fire, June 18, 1888. . , Monday, June 18, 1888, the Borough of DuBois was baking under a relentless sun punctuated by warm, shifting winds. As befitting an area dominated by lumbering, the central part of DuBois from Sugar Alley to Stockdale Street was almost all wooden buildings This included 166 businesses and many homes., At 1 p.m., a fire was discovered in John Baker's Hotel, currently the railroad crossing on West Long Avenue. The fire-fighting apparatus in Dubois at that point consisted of a single hose cart, which only trickled water when attached to what was a broken water line. To no avail bucket brigades were formed. Strong winds blew the fire toward Main Street and everything was consumed from there to State Street and south to Weber Avenue., By 3 p.m., the wind direction changed and the fire spread further down W. Long Avenue. It was thought to have stopped at the brick Windsor Hotel, now the Ft. Worth Hotel and Restaurant. Trying to stop the fire with dynamite only made the fire spread more quickly., The end of the day was rapidly approaching and some hope arrived with it. Around 6 p.m. the steamer truck from the Renovo fire company, sent for by John E. DuBois, arrived by train. Its appearance sparked renewed effort among the DuBois citizens and the fire was halted, nearly nine hours after it had started, at the Terpe House at Williams and Courtney Street, now Scribner Ave. and North Brady St. Six businesses were still in operation. Fourteen blocks were leveled, over 100 acres had burned, an estimated 500 to 600 buildings destroyed, and nearly 3,000 people were homeless. Losses were estimated at $1,012,950. As best 10 to 15 percent of the property was insured., Displaced people were sent to the DuBois Fairgrounds and tents provided by the U. S. Army were erected. John E. DuBois called in all the cooks from his lumbering camps and breakfast was prepared for 1,500 people the morning after the fire., Cities immediately sent money and supplies, leaving no one hungry for long. Miraculously, no one was killed, but two dogs perished in the flames. A committee from Philadelphia visited to evaluate the city's needs. It recommended that nothing be sent as DuBois was nothing more than a lumbering town and would cease to exist in 10 years. Fortunately, Governor James Addams Beaver did not follow this advice., The community also took its own actions. First, the borough council affiliated Volunteer Hose Company Number 1 was formed on June 19, 1888, the first organized fire company in DuBois. James Whitehill was elected fire chief., Second, the borough council, on June 20, 1888, passed an ordinance making it unlawful to erect any wooded structures beginning at line of Lot No. 3 as per Long's addition; these to extend to Pentz Run and on Booth Street to Main Street, and on Courtney Street beginning at Plant Road and extending to Long Street, and for 150 feet on each side of these streets., Third, a project started to establish a new water system to guard against another fire holocaust. A reservoir was built in upper Clear Run and was completed in 1891., Fourth, the people responded. Barely had the ashes of the fire cooled before rebuilding started. Merchants were busy clearing their properties long before insurance claims were settled, with plans of rebuilding on a larger scale. The town was a beehive of activity within a week. DuBois was on its way to recovery and a new beginning. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . A map (right) shows the location of the Fire of 1888. The shaded area was burned. The cross marks the Baker House. Fire losses listed in the Pennsylvania Grit: 13 grocery stores, 9 hotels, 6 dry good stores, 3 hardware stores, 8 drug stores, 2 banks, 2 newspapers, 5 gents' furnishing stores[,] 5 tailoring establishments, 7 restaurants, 3 boot and shoe stores, 5 millinery stores, 7 barber shops, 2 bakeries, 2 billiard rooms. 5 tobacconists, 3 furniture stores, 3 photograph galleries, 2 undertakers, 6 dress makers, 3 dental offices, 5 cigar manufacturies, 2 carpet weavers, 2 jewelry stores, 3 liveries, 2 harness stores, 10 confectioneries, 6 meat markets, 3 law offices, 7 physicians' offices, 2 churches, 2 book and stationery stores, a tea store, a wall paper and window shade store, several sewing machine agents' ware rooms, a freight depot, carriage works, marble yard, blacksmith shops, shoemaker shops, etc., [Photo captions, left to right, read] , . Above from East Long Avenue, in the general direction of the corner of Long Avenue and Brady Street taken on June 19, 1888. Below from the vicinity of the 1888 Evangelical Church on East Long Avenue in direction of Long Avenue-Brady Street corner., . [Map] DuBois Express, June 29, 1888