USA > Maine > Waldo County > Belfast > History of the city of Belfast in the state of Maine, Volume II, 1875-1900 > Part 24
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TN the following account of fires which have occurred in Bel- fast between the years 1875 and 1900, with a few exceptions, only fires where the loss reached $300 are included. Unless other- wise stated, the buildings were entirely destroyed.
1875. Although in April, the Mayor was authorized to offer a reward of $500 for the detection of incendiaries, five fires, com- mencing May 5 and ending May 7, a period of fifty-one hours, occurred, which caused great alarm. They were all incendiary but one, as given below: May 5. New England House fired in basement; extinguished without damage. May 6. The hay barn of Woods, Mathews & Baker, in the rear of Main Street, fired; extinguished without loss. May 7, A.M. House of Patrick Haney, on Allyn Street, partially destroyed; accidental. May 7, P.M. The stable of the New England House with its contents; loss, $6000; partially insured. May 7, midnight. The old black- smith shop of John Peirce, near the Lower Bridge, with $200 worth of casks.
1875, May 24. Masonic Hall, over the High School room; inside fixtures burned; accidental.
1875, June 3. Blacksmith shop of Thomas Gannon on Wash- ington Street, partially destroyed; a large quantity of kerosene oil was stored beneath; cause of fire unknown.
1875, July 18. A small house on the line of the railroad, owned by Harrison Hayford and occupied by a Mrs. Patterson; incendiary.
1875, August 18. House and barn owned by Mrs. Nahum Parker Monroe, near the Muck, with a quantity of hay; incen- diary.
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FIRES AND FIRE DEPARTMENT
1875, August 19. A storehouse on Lewis Wharf, occupied by Pitcher & Gorham, with 125 tons of hay; loss, over $5000; in- cendiary.
1875, August 27. House and barn on Belmont Avenue, owned and occupied by James Greer; cause not known.
1875, September 8. Old aqueduct house in the dock, owned by Franklin W. Berry; incendiary.
1875, November 5. House and two barns of Edward L. Whittier on the East Side of the river; loss, $3500; insured for $250; accidental.
On July 4, Washington Engine No. 5, with a company of one hundred men, went to Ellsworth on the steamer Pioneer, and took the first prize of sixty dollars. The play of water from the en- gine was one hundred and sixty-six feet and two inches.
During the summer of 1875, the subject of a water-supply for fire purposes was discussed, and resulted in the purchase by the city of the Muck Hole, so called, of two acres, on Lincolnville Avenue, for $500.
1876, January 25. Brick house of Captain Daniel McFarland, at the corner of Congress and Franklin streets; supposed cause, a defective chimney; loss, $3000; insured for $2500.
1876, March 1. Unoccupied house on Northport Avenue, built in 1800, owned by the heirs of Thomas Pickard. It was the former homestead of Jonathan White; incendiary.
1876, March 3. Tenement block of James Young Mcclintock, on Spring Street, was damaged $1500, by fire communicating from a shed in the rear; no insurance.
1876, March 6. House, ell, and barn of Mrs. Martin Fahy, on Waldo Avenue; loss, $1000; insurance, $650.
1876, March. Two small houses on North High Street, of Fred Crosby and Mrs. Hall.
1876, April. House of Atwood W. Gilmore, near Searsport town line.
1876, June 15. House on Northport Avenue, owned and oc- cupied by Frank A. Cottrell; supposed cause, a defective chim- ney; loss, $2500; insured for $2000.
1876, August 23. House and barn on Waldo Avenue, owned by Mrs. Darius Shute; loss, $3000; insured for $1600; supposed cause, incendiary.
1876, August 29. House on South Miller Street, owned by
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HISTORY OF BELFAST
Dr. John George Brooks, and occupied by Captain John Foss; origin unknown; insured for $900.
1876, September 9. The stable and ell attached to the house of Captain Charles H. Wording, on Congress Street; loss, $1000, partially covered by insurance; origin, probably incendiary.
1876, September 22. Barn owned by Reuben Sibley, on Lin- colnville Avenue, with contents of hay.
1876, November 2. Buildings covering the brick-kiln of Wil- liam E. Bickford, East Side of the river; loss, $350.
1876, November 7. House and barn of Joseph H. Cross, on the old John West place, near Poor's Mills; loss, $1300; insured for $800.
1876, November 30. House of Mrs. Wilkinson Peirce, on Con- gress Street, partially burned, owing to a defective chimney; fully insured.
1876, December 28. Engine-house of Samuel G. Ellis was set on fire. The National Underwriters offered a reward of $200 for the conviction of the incendiary.
In January, 1877, the committee appointed by the city govern- ment, in August, 1873, to solicit and distribute contributions for the relief of the sufferers by the great fire of that month, made the following report: -
The total amount received to date in cash from contributions, sub- scriptions and interest, is $23,424.78; the amount paid out to date is $23,424.78; the amount of subscriptions obtained in Belfast was $5196; the amount of subscriptions unpaid is $396.
The controlling aim of the committee has been to help those who would help themselves. Especially have they tried to encourage and promote the building of houses, thereby providing permanent homes for the sufferers and materially benefiting the city. Accordingly they have paid out the sum of $17,185 for building purposes, and have thus contributed to the erection of fifty new houses. In addition to these payments in money they also divided among the sufferers all contribu- tions which had been received of lumber and other materials, which contributions were numerous and valuable. The increase of taxable property thus brought about is at least $85,000.
The amount paid out in money for all other purposes, such as house- hold stores and goods, wearing apparel, fuel, taxes, etc., is $6239.78. The committee also distributed among the sufferers whatever contribu- tions were received of household goods, clothing, food, etc., the value of which they have not estimated.
The fund has been paid out to the relief of 144 families. The number of persons thereby assisted, the committee have no means of estimating.
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FIRES AND FIRE DEPARTMENT
The books showing the several sums paid out, the articles distributed, and the persons receiving them, are in the office of Daniel Faunce, and open to inspection.
WILLIAM COLBURN MARSHALL, JOHN GEORGE BROOKS, JOHN WARREN WHITE, DANIEL FAUNCE, PHILO HERSEY.
BELFAST, January 8, 1877.
1877, February 13. Ice-houses of William E. Bickford, at north end of the East Bridge, with three hundred tons of ice; insured for $2450; probable cause, incendiary.
1877, February 20. House on Washington Street, owned by B. B. Whittaker.
1877, March 4. House of Allen Henderson, Bridge Street; cause, defective chimney; partially insured.
1877, April 30. Stable on Congress Street, owned by Albion H. Bradbury.
1877, June 22. Unoccupied storehouse in McGilvery's ship- yard, containing models of all ships built by White and Conner.
1877, August 7. House of Russell Glover Dyer, Bay View Street; damaged about $700.
1877, September 5. Barn of William Pottle, Northport Avenue.
1877, November 1. Boarding-house of Jesse Robbins, Bridge Street, formerly the residence of Captain Benjamin Brown, with most of contents. The occupants narrowly escaped; loss, $5000; insured for $3800.
1877. Hydrant Engine No. 2, took a prize at Biddeford on the 4th of July. At a trial with Washington No. 5, in September, for a purse of $100, the latter won, throwing water two hundred four feet and five inches, the score of the former being one hundred seventy-nine feet and six inches. In December, Wash- ington Engine No. 5 was offered for sale, and two hose com- panies were authorized by the city. The following names were suggested by the Chief Engineer as members: Peter Francis Welch, Edward Sibley, Horatio Palmer Thompson, Frank Riggs, Andrew Fahy, Francis Hiram Welch, William Matthew Welch, Sherman G. Swift, Austin Wilder Keating, Henry Staples, James Haney, James Clinton Durham.
1878, April 6. The Cottrell store, corner of Main and Pleasant streets; cause, incendiary.
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HISTORY OF BELFAST
1878, May 10. House of Albion King Paris Moore, Bridge Street; damaged $600, through a defective chimney.
1878, May 12. Unoccupied steam mill in McGilvery's ship- yard, with its machinery; loss, $6000; no insurance; cause, in- cendiary.
1878, June. House of Horace Park, on the Augusta road. Two barns were saved with difficulty. Loss, $2500; insurance, $1800; cause, a defective chimney.
1878, June 28. House of Captain Ephraim D. Ryder, on the East Side of the river, near the Upper Bridge; loss, over $2000; insured for $1900; supposed to have been set by tramps.
1878, June 30. Small unoccupied house on Lincolnville Ave- nue, owned by the heirs of Willard Pope Harriman.
1878, August 29. Stave and grist mill of Robert Patterson at Poor's Mills, struck by lightning and destroyed; loss, $2000; insured.
1878, September 3. House, ell, and two barns, on the Jesse Robbins place, South Belfast, owned by Frank W. Berry; in- sured for $5000.
1878, November 6. House near Poor's Mills, owned by N. L. Woodbury; loss, $700; insured.
1878, November 9. House of Samuel Smith, on the East Side of the river, near the paper mills; loss, $800; partially insured.
1878, November 13. Unoccupied house on Belmont Avenue, formerly the homestead of Benjamin Banks, and owned by John O. Johnson, of Liberty, value, small; insured.
1878, November 25. Storehouse on Haraden's Wharf, occu- pied by Calvin Hartson Pitcher, with its contents; loss, $6000; partially insured. Charles Bellows Hazeltine, who owned hay destroyed, offered a reward of $500 for the detection of the incendiary.
1878. Hydrant No. 2, with 60 members, celebrated the 4th of July in Lewiston, and in September, Washington No. 5, with 80 men, attended a firemen's muster in Rockland.
1879. February 13. House of Sylvanus G. Cottrell, Cedar Street; cause, unknown; loss, $1500; insured.
1879, April 4. Two houses on North Street, near the Lower Bridge, owned by Moses Warren Frost; insured.
1879, May 14. House of Allen Henderson, Condon Street; insured for $800; supposed cause, incendiary.
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FIRES AND FIRE DEPARTMENT
1879, June 7. Old Wells' house, on Bridge Street, owned by Albion King Paris Moore.
1879, June 25. Large storehouse on Lewis's Wharf, occupied by Calvin Hartson Pitcher and Hazeltine & Co., was fired by incendiaries, and, with most of its contents of hay and grain, was destroyed; loss, $6000; partially covered by insurance. Two young men, William T. Abbott and James Whalen, were arrested as having caused the fire.
1879, June 16. House and other buildings of Isaac Jackson, on Lincolnville Avenue; loss, $1500; insured.
1879. In July, a new company for old Hydrant Engine No. 2 was formed, mostly of boys.
1879, July 4. House of Mrs. Caroline Patterson, on the East Side of the river; insured.
1879, July 7. The Telegraph Block owned by Howes & Co., at the corner of Main and High streets, partially consumed. It was soon rebuilt. The cause was a lighted match thrown into a cuspidor.
1879, October 18. Steamer Planet, while being repaired, par- tially destroyed. There was no insurance.
1879, October 31. House and barn of E. L. Segar, on Upper High Street; loss, $2000; insured.
1879. November 27. The Peachy house, owned by Captain James A. Curtis, near the Upper Bridge; loss, $1000; insured.
1880, April 28. Unoccupied house on Belmont Avenue, owned by Milton F. Carter; cause, incendiary; loss, $700; insured.
1880, June 12. House of Alfred Patterson, East Side of the river; cause, a defective chimney; loss, $1500; partially insured.
1880, July 7. Storehouse built by John Stevens, on the East Side of the river, with outbuildings and ice-house ; cause, un- known; insured for $1200.
1880, October 29. House of Captain Robert F. Patterson, on the East Side of the river; cause, a defective flue; insured.
1880, November 9. Stable of Cyrus Patterson, on Main Street, and the old gun-house in the rear; cause, unknown. The gun-house was built by the town in 1836, and was formerly used by the Artillery Company.
1881, February 12. House and barn of Mrs. Abbie Mathews, on Northport Avenue; origin, unknown; insured for $2450.
1881. In April, Joseph T. and George S. Patterson were
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HISTORY OF BELFAST
arrested for setting fire to the houses of John Campbell and Daniel C. Toothaker. Joseph was sentenced to imprisonment for life, and George to the reform school during minority. They con- fessed the crime.
1881, April 25. House of Samuel Whitmore, in the southern part of the city; loss, $2000; insured.
1881, October 1. Brick house and other buildings of Mrs. E. B. Whittaker, on North High Street; insured.
1881, October 1. Slaughter house of Owen G. White, on Poor's Mills road; loss, $600; no insurance.
1882, January 11. House and barn of John W. Nash, on Vine Street; cause, a defective chimney; loss, $1200; partially insured.
1882, March 30. House of Harvey H. Smalley, on Bridge Street, near the Lower Bridge; insured.
1882, June 22. Small house on the East Side of the river, owned by Franklin Prince Eames; loss partially covered by in- surance.
1882, June 22. City block, corner of Main and High streets, took fire in the office of the " Progressive Age," and was damaged $500. The occupants were injured by smoke.
1882, July 12. Farm buildings in South Belfast, owned by W. H. Hall, and occupied by Josiah L. Woods; cause, unknown; loss, $1500; insured for $1000.
1882, September 18. Storehouse of W. M. Woods & Co., on the wharf, with contents of sixty tons of hay ; loss, $4000; covered by insurance.
1883, January 5. Blacksmith shop of George E. Wight, in Carter & Co.'s shipyard; loss, $1000; no insurance. The build- ing was once the Belmont town house, being moved to Belfast after the great fire of 1873.
1883, June 7. Storehouse of Albert Martin Carter, on Lewis's Wharf, containing 175 tons of hay. The adjoining hay barn of Ben Hazeltine, with contents of 400 tons, was damaged by water and smoke. Loss, $5300; insured; supposed cause, in- cendiary.
1883, September 20. Seventy-five acres of land near Mason's Mills, East Side of the river, burned over by a forest fire, which endangered houses of Albert Stevenson and Pembroke M. Staples.
1883, October 19. House, furniture, and barn of Augustus
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FIRES AND FIRE DEPARTMENT
Kimball Wood, on lower Congress Street; loss $800; no insur- ance; caused by children playing with matches.
1883, December 28. Barn of Otis W. McKenney, on Belmont Avenue, with contents; insured for $900; cause, incendiary.
1884, February 12. Furniture store of Edward Henry Colby, on High Street, owned by Arnold Harris, damaged; fully insured. A sheriff's jury reported that the fire was an incendiary one.
1884, June 15. House, ell, and barn at Citypoint, owned by Wallace Cunningham and occupied by Ebenezer Littlefield, with greater part of contents; partially insured.
1884. In July, the city appropriated $300 for laying a surface pipe 4000 feet in length from the Muck Pond to Cross Street, to test the practicability of making the service permanent.
1884, August 2. The burning of a hotel on Green Mountain, Mount Desert, in the evening, was plainly seen from Belfast, at a distance of fifty miles.
1884, October 5. House and stable of George G. Patterson at Poor's Mills; insured.
1884, October 8. House and farm buildings of Daniel Lewis Pitcher, on Lincolnville road; insured. The premises were occu- pied by Charles A. Piper. The fire was supposed to have been caused by children playing in the barn.
1884, November 4. House on High Street, on the premises of the late Martin P. White. It was occupied by David P. Gilmore, whose family narrowly escaped through a window. The building was one of the oldest in Belfast, having been built for a hat-shop by Josiah Bean, who came to Belfast from York, in 1806. It was converted into a dwelling house in 1825.
1885, March 14. The jailer's residence and other buildings on Congress Street, owned by the County, and occupied by Ansel Wadsworth. The jail was uninjured, but the prisoners, numbering seventeen, were removed for safety. The stock and most of the furniture were saved. No insurance; probable cause, ashes in a wooden vessel.
1885, March 31. Small house near the railroad bridge, for- merly the property of Peter Gilson, and owned by Andrew J. Stevens, partially destroyed; insured.
1885, June 20. House and stable of W. D. Downes, on Waldo Avenue, formerly owned by Mrs. Laura A. Russ, with portion of contents; supposed cause, defective chimney; insured.
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HISTORY OF BELFAST
1885, July 12. The most disastrous fire since the great one of 1873, occurred, resulting in the death of two men, twenty-one horses, and destroying sixteen buildings. It originated at about one o'clock, A.M., in the northerly end of the livery company's stable on High Street, and rapidly communicated to adjoining buildings in all directions, except those across the street. In a few minutes the Telegraph Building, the American House and stables, and a wooden store on Beaver Street were in flames. Thence the fire spread to the brick store of Joseph Bean, adjoin- ing the hotel, to the carriage manufactory of Newell Mansfield, and several minor buildings, on Beaver Street, all of which were burned. The plate glass in Masonic Temple was shattered by heat, and the stores on the western side of Main Street were only saved by the protection of wet canvas. The fire is supposed to have originated from pipes or cigars brought into the stable by two young men, Elmer Wesley Twombly and John Casey, em- ployees of the livery company, who went to sleep in the hayloft, and who perished in the flames. James McCabe, another occu- pant of the loft, escaped with severe injuries.
The buildings destroyed were occupied as follows: -
Livery stable and carriage house: the Belfast Livery Com- pany.
Harris shed: Field & Carter, storage.
American House stable: the Belfast Livery Company and Humphrey Nicholas Lancaster.
Telegraph Building: basement, Field & Carter, fish; Charles M. Carter, market; International Express Company. First floor, William M. Priest, clothing manufacturer; Fred H. Francis, boots and shoes; Lorenzo D. Fogg, confectionery. Second floor, Fred A. Carle, tax collector; Moses Walter Rich, shoemaker, Nathaniel Delano, barber; William C. Tuttle, organs. Third floor, William C. Tuttle, photographer.
American House: William Weeks, landlord.
Furber & Bean, store: Furber & Bean, hatters, and Franklin Atwood Greer, lawyer.
Lancaster's carriage shop: Humphrey Nicholas Lancaster, storage; Hiram W. Trundy, wheelwright.
Mansfield's carriage shop: J. R. Simmons, blacksmith, and Henry G. Bicknell, painter.
There were also several sheds in the rear of the Furber & Bean
RUINS AMERICAN HOUSE FIRE, 1885
RUINS PHOENIX ROW FIRE, 1887
243
FIRES AND FIRE DEPARTMENT
store, used for ice, wood, etc., by Lancaster, Weeks, Bean, and others.
The whole loss to property was about $50,000, with insurance of about $21,000.
The following diagram represents the burned section, and the buildings most endangered.
CHURCH
STREET
Flanders
Mitchell
Chase
Hayford
Hayford
Starrett
Bank
Hayford "Annex"
Clem'nt
Sargent
Stage Stable
STREET
Shaw
White
8.G. Howard J.G. Damon
Swift
Wells
Mansfield
Bean
Hanson.
Arch
Lancaster
BEAVER
,Arch
Wood- cock
B.L. Co. Carriage House
American House Stable
Telegraph Building
Howes
5
Harris
Locke
4
1
2
3
HIGH
STREET
Mcclintock
N.E. House
F.W.
F.B.K.
Masonic Temple
City Block
DIAGRAM OF BURNED DISTRICT IN FIRE OF JULY 12, 1885
1885, December 4. Oakum shop, at the marine railway of David Whitten Dyer, containing sails and rigging of schooner Lyra, which was being repaired; loss, $1500; insurance, $1100.
1885, December 8. Wooden building of George G. Wells, adjoining Phoenix Row, and occupied by saloons; seriously damaged; fully insured.
The losses by fire in 1885 induced higher rates of insurance, and much discussion about a water-supply. In October, a com- mittee appointed by the City Government took the matter
MAIN
Chase
American House
STREET
Carle
Ice House
Belfast Livery Co. Stable
244
HISTORY OF BELFAST
into consideration, and made a survey of several neighboring ponds.
1886, February 1. House at corner of Church and Elm streets, owned by heirs of the late Liberty B. Wetherbee, and occupied by Dr. Horatio Huntington Johnson. Most of the contents were destroyed. The ell and stable were saved. In- surance, $1400 on house; $1000 on furniture; supposed cause, an overheated furnace.
1886, March 2. House of heirs of the late Mrs. Elizabeth Brier, on Head of the Tide road, with nearly all its contents; insured for $800; cause, unknown.
1886, March 23. House, ell, and barn of Hartson Clark, corner of Waldo Avenue and Vine Street; insurance, $450; supposed cause, a defective chimney.
1886, April 24. Storehouse of Baker & Shales, in rear of their store on Main Street, just below the Granite Block, with con- tents; partially insured; origin, incendiary. Many neighboring buildings were saved by great exertion. The building was the third one destroyed within a few years on the same site.
1886, December 16. Store of Jacob Young Cottrell & Son, on Main Street, destroyed with contents. The Coliseum, and the store of J. C. Thompson & Son, both adjoining, were damaged. Loss, $10,000; nearly covered by insurance; origin, unknown.
On the 15th of November, 1887, a contract was made by the city with Messrs. Parks & Wheeler, for constructing waterworks, a full account of which is given in another chapter.
1887, March 25. Early in the morning, during a rainstorm, the interior of Cates & Stickney's shoe store, in the "Republican Journal" Block on Church Street, was almost entirely destroyed, with its contents, and the clothing stock of Charles Wesley Haney, in the adjoining store, damaged by smoke, as was the "Republican Journal" office above. The loss, over $3000, was covered by insurance; supposed cause, a cigar stub.
1887, March 30. House on Court Street, owned by Captain Robert T. Emery, and occupied by Fred Killman; fire supposed to have originated from a chimney; loss, $850; insured.
1887, April 14. House and outbuildings of Collins McCarty, on the East Side of the river, near the Upper Bridge; cause, unknown; loss, $800; insured, $500.
1887, June 12. Phoenix Row, a three-story block of six stores
245
FIRES AND FIRE DEPARTMENT
on High Street. The fire was discovered about midnight in a rear room over the saloon of Thomas Haugh and Fred L. Carter in store No. 9, and although brick walls, from the basement to the roof, divided each tenement, the fire soon extended along the wooden gutters by the eaves, and the whole block was in flames. Store No. 1 was owned by the heirs of the late James Young McClintock, and the occupants were Charles N. Black, stove dealer; Carter & Co. office, and the Knights of Pythias. No. 3 was occupied by William M. Priest, clothing dealer, and Abner G. Gil- more as a saloon. In No. 5 were Adoniram J. F. Ingraham, sew- ing-machine agent, and the International Express office; in the second story, Mrs. John Sleeper and Miss Thompson, dressmakers; in the third story was old Phoenix Hall, occupied by Thomas H. Marshall Post, G.A.R. Both tenements were owned by Ralph Cross Jolinson. D. H. Peavey, clothing dealer, owned and occu- pied No. 7. No. 9 was the property of the heirs of Prescott Hazeltine. Mark Andrews was the owner and occupant of No. 11. Most of the stock of goods was saved. Each store was valued at $2500, and all the owners, except those of No. 1, were insured. The block was among the oldest buildings in Belfast, having been erected in 1824.
After the destruction of Phoenix Row, the Boston Insurance Exchange gave notice that, unless a steam fire engine were pro- vided until the completion of the waterworks, the rates of insur- ance would be doubled or the policies here cancelled. Accordingly, in July, a steam fire engine was hired at fifty dollars per month, and placed in the room of Engine No. 5. It was maintained until December, but its services were never required. In September, Engine No. 2, with forty members, attended a firemen's muster in Brunswick.
To some of the older citizens the destruction of Phoenix Hall was not without a feeling of regret, recalling as it did so many fond associations of their youth.
When the thronged room its glittering groups displayed,
Of Nature's loveliness, by Art arrayed;
Of graceful forms that matched the sculptor's art, And eyes whose glances reached the coldest heart.
1887, November 27. Farm buildings of Edmund Ames, at North Belfast, near Searsport line; valued at $3000; partially insured.
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HISTORY OF BELFAST
1888. No destructive fire occurred during the year. The only buildings burned were the house and barn of Cornelius I. Whit- comb, near Poor's Mills; cause, sparks igniting the roof; loss, about $4000; insured, $2200.
The system of waterworks led to a reorganization of the Fire Department. The old hand-engine companies were disbanded, a new hose carriage and hose purchased, and Washington Engine No. 5 was ordered to be sold. The insurance companies read- justed their rates.
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