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Cuyahoga
Falls Fires
1883 -
1866 - 1890 -
1948
1883
"In talking recently with
Dave Richards and Fred Roethig, I discovered
that they were both members of the volunteer
fire department that had exciting and hard
times at the big fire, in which an Akron
company came to assist just after they got
surrounding buildings under control.
It is hard for me to locate
the exact site of the old place now, but it
would be next south of the Citizen's Bank
building, which was built over from the Howard
brick store building.
Next south of the Comstock
building, which has such an interesting and
unusual history, was an alley about 20 feet
wide, then Jim McMillin's saloon, Noah Phase's
barber shop, George Martin's bakery, Henry
Howard's clothing store on the first floor and
E. O. Knox's Cuyahoga Falls Reporter occupying
the second floor.
This paper was a very
thriving and interesting weekly at that time,
with quite a history back of it. I don't know
whether any of the records or paper/files were
saved but suppose that they were all
destroyed.
Mr. Knox was soon
re-established with new equipment on the
corner of Portage and Front streets, where
Acme No. 8 is now located, in an old building
that had been the L'Homedieu grocery corner on
the Wetmore property. There was quite a hall
above it, which was reached by an enclosed
wide stairway in the rear from Portage street.
This auditorium was used for pubic meetings
and considerably as a mission hall. I remember
hearing gospel hymns there as I stopped in a
few times to meetings as I was returning from
the little school in the park.
The Tremlin home was much
lower than the sidewalk and back from the
street, leaving a depressed yard in front in
which the drainage was cut off by the wall of
the Lodge block and the higher ground of the
home. The firemen pumped so much water into
the Lodge building, that it made a small pond
in the Tremlin yard, and some of the firemen
got drenched by falling into it. Fred Roethig
was helped out of this lakelet by an old townsman
pushing a ladder to him.
A lot of the old frame
buildings in the Front street picture made
thrilling and very interesting fires during
the past fifty years, several of which I
witnessed."
William R. Lodge
Article placed in CF
Reporter on October 1, 1937
1866
On
the morning of October 24, 1866, several
business blocks on Front Street, including
Gillett's grocery store, Tifft's meat market,
Dr. P. G. Somers; office, post office,
Steadman's jewelry store, and the fine stone
block building known as the Bank Building, the
lower floor of which was occupied by H. C.
Lockwood as a dry goods store were all
consumed by fire.
When it
became evident that the fire was out of
control, a messenger was sent galloping to
Akron for that city's fire department. The
mayor gave his permission but Akron's
department had only a single pair of ($550) horses
and no livery stable would furnish another
pair. So, they started out on foot with 20
volunteers.
Howard St.
had not yet been opened up the hill. They went
out Cuyahoga St. to Tallmadge then up the old
"Chuckery" hill, with the firemen
pushing and pulling on ropes.
Somewhere
between Chalker's Landing and the Gorge, they
were met by a second messenger. He informed
them that the fire had burned itself out and
their assistance was not needed. The exhausted
firemen returned to Akron.
The goods in
several establishments burned were mostly
removed, but the buildings were a total loss,
amounting to many thousands of dollars; but
the saddest result was the death of Mr. John
M. Hinde, a young recently married man of 24, and
a soldier of the late war. Though young Hinde
was troubled at times with heart disease, he
was among the foremost in trying to save the
property of those who were being burned out,
and while thus engaged in removing goods from
Lockwood's store, he sank exhausted behind the
counter, and though afterwards found and
carried into the open air, and every effort
made for his resuscitation, he did not recover
consciousness, and soon afterwards died.
Newspaper
Headline: The Beacon of October 24, 1866:
"The
citizens of Cuyahoga Falls, notwithstanding
their own severe loss by fire this morning,
contributed $105.00 to the firemen of this
city, who so promptly turned out with steamer,
hose, etc., to aid them in subduing the fire.
Though they were in readiness to start within
fifteen minutes from the time of receiving the
notice, and made all possible speed, the fire
had nearly spent itself before their arrival,
the messenger to turn them back meeting them
about a mile this side of the village."
1948
Akron Beacon Journal Wed Jan
28, 1948
By Betty Long
2
Stores wiped out
A
$250,000 fire in the heart of
the Cuyahoga Falls business
section was brought under
control early today by firemen
from six cities and towns of
the area.
The
blaze, termed the worst in cf
history by fire chief Lou
Seiler, roared through the
Falls Hardware Co., 2209 Front
St., and the Falls Chocolate
Shop, next door at 2211 Front.
Seiler
said a preliminary
investigation indicated the
fire may have been started by
a coal stoker furnace in the
basement of the hardware
store. Firemen were able to
enter the ruins late this
morning.
Approximately
75 fire fighters from the
falls, Akron, stow, Kent,
Tallmadge, and Northampton -
along with volunteers battled
the blaze in 7 degree weather
for four hours before its
threat to adjacent buildings
was removed.
At one
stage firemen feared the
flames would engulf the entire
business block from Portage
Trail to Stow St. Seiler said.
Arrival of extra men
and equipment from other
departments saved the day, he
declared.
The first
alarm was turned in at 3:15AM
b y patrolmen Melvin Penn and
Sterling Tuck, who were riding
by the building in a cruiser.
They said they noticed
flames in the rear of the
Chocolate shop.
The fire
spread rapidly and within a
half hour Seiler called on
Akron for help. Fire Chief
Frank C. Vernotzy sent three
Akron companies and went to
the scene e to offer s Seiler
his help.
Successive
alarms were sounded in Stow,
Kent , Tallmadge
and Northampton, all of
which sent volunteers and
equipment.
Ice
formed swiftly on firemen’s
clothing, and streets and
sidewalks become treacherous.
Ice
weighted down electric wires
against the burning buildings.
Power was turned off in
the downtown falls area so
wired could be removed.
Traffic
was halted on Front and Second
streets from Broad blvd, to
Oakwood Dr. Trolley bus
service was halted several
hours on Second. Shuttle
busses took passengers to the
East Cuyahoga Falls avenue
loop where they boarded
trolley busses.
At about
7am Seiler reported no one had
been injured, but firemen had
treacherous footing on icy
streets.
Exploding
pain in the hardware store
kept the blaze alive and
flames shot through the roof
of the three-story building as
water was sprayed on it form
all angles.
Seiler
said he would be unable to
determine the cause of the
exact extent of damage until
“we are able to get
inside.”
According
to Seiler, no one was inside
the building when the fire
broke out.
Seiler
said other occupants of the
two structures beside the
hardware store and the
Chocolate shop were the C.F.
Smith agency, Dr. W.E.
Shanewise and the Odd Fellows
Lodge.
Other Fires...
1833 A
large paper and paper-stock warehouse
belonging to Stow & Wetmores, on the east
side of the river, was destroyed with all its
contents.
1840's The
woolen factory and the stone saw-mill standing
on the west bank of the river was burned to
the ground. The factory belonged to Ogden
Wetmore and the mill to Henry Newberry. They
were never rebuilt.
1851
The large
flouring mill of Stow & Wetmores, on the
east side of the river, north of Portage Trail
was totally destroyed. It was believed
to have been the work of an incendiary.
1853
On the night
of November 25, 1853 the fine new paper mill
of J. M. Smith & Co., on the west side of
the river was entirely burned. The mill, stock
and machinery was valued at $20,000 but about
$5,000 worth of machinery was saved. The mill
had been in operation for only a few days. Mr.
William A. Hanford, the "Co." part
of the firm, had made application for
insurance and the papers were to have been
executed the next day so the loss was permanent.
1860
For many
years the bagging and twine factory of John
Hinde & Sons, in the south part of the
village and later known as the Glen Wire Mill
Property, was one of the most prominent of the
varied industries of Cuyahoga Falls, giving
employment to a large number of hands, and
consuming immense quantities of flax from the
farms of the surrounding country. This mill
was destroyed by fire, entailing a very heavy
loss upon its proprietor but it was at once
rebuilt and soon in running order again.
1867
The west side
paper mill of J. M. Smith & Co., burned as
above stated in November 1853 was immediately
rebuilt by that firm and re-christened the
"Phoenix". Passing into the
possession of Hanford & Yeomans, it was
again burned at noon, on the 30th day of
October, 1867. Loss $25,000 to $30,000;
insurance about $12,000. The mill was again
rebuilt by Messrs. H & Y. and supplied
with first-class machinery and then a part of
the plant for some years operated by the
Cuyahoga Paper Company.
1872
About 1
o'clock on the morning of September 18, 1872,
the large machine shop of Alford, Pitkin &
Co., successors to A. G. & H. W. Bill, on
the east side of Water street, was discovered
to be on fire, and owing to the stiff breeze
that was blowing at the time, and the want of
proper fire-extinguishing appliances, was
speedily consumed. The main building was a
two-story frame, 35x130 feet in size, with
office, blacksmith's shop and other small
buildings attached, all o fwhich, with their
valuable machinery, tools, etc. were totally
destroyed. Loss was at $20,000; insurance gave
$3,000.
Across the
street stood the fine new brick "Empire
Mill" of the Hanford Brothers, devoted to
the manufacture of fine cover papers, the
structure being part two and part three
stories high, above the basement, and all
filled with first-class machinery and valuable
stock. The wind, blowing briskly from the east
soon carried the flames from the machine shop
to the mill and rapidly consumed it. Loss was
at $32,000 and insurance paid $14,000. At this
fire Thomas O'Neil stumbled and broke his leg
above the knee. Mr. James Peebles was overcome
by heat and carried to his home in an
unconscious condition, but both recovered. The
mill was immediately rebuilt and together with
the "Phoenix" was later owned by
George Sackett, Esq. and then operated by the
Cuyahoga Paper Company.
1881
On the night
of March 31st the three story building of the
Falls Wire Manufacturing Company was
discovered on fire about 10 o'clock by Marshal
Richard Reid and Mr. C. A. Vaughn. The alarm
was immediately sounded, and though citizens
promptly rallied and fought the fire
vigorously the second and third stories were
destroyed, the lower story with its machinery
and large amount of wire ready for shipment
were saved. The large new warehouse and
annealing rooms were saved by the faithful
work of the "bucket brigade". At
this fire Mr. Carleton H. Reeve was quite seriously
hurt by the falling of the ladder on which he
was working; Mr. Charles F. Harrison injured
in one of his eyes and another man somewhat
bruised by a falling ladder though fortunately
none of the injuries were fatal.
1882
On the
evening of September 28 the hollow brick block
building belonging to the estate of George H.
Lodge, the lower floor occupied by G. C. Cook,
groceries; A. Seadschlag, merchant tailor, and
George Martin, pretzel baker, and the upper
floor by the Reporter office of E. O. Knox;
the offices of Dr. A. H. Bill, physician, and
Dr. E. a. Cramer, dentist, and the reading
room of Mr. John H. Brainard, together with a
small dwelling house belonging to the same
estate were entirely consumed.
1886
About 10:30
pm on July 1st the Phoenix Lumber Company's
Planing Mill, opposite the Empire Paper Mill
on the east side of the river, with all its
machinery, lumber sheds, piles of lumber,
etc., was totally destroyed. The fire was to
have been caused by the firing off Roman
candles from a passing train on the P. C.
& T. Road in anticipation of the
approaching Fourth of July.
1887
At about
6:30pm on December 8th the roof of the
moulding department of the Falls Rivet Company
was discovered to be on fire near the cupola
stack. The building was a story and a half.
Finding the fire beyond control of the bucket
brigade and the capacity of the hose attached
to the steam pump of the engine belonging to
the works, Chief B. F. Mauderback, of the
Akron Fire Department, was appealed to for
aid, and in the briefest time possible was at
the scene of the fire with steamer No. 1 and
its hose cart, fully manned. But by cutting
away the supports and letting the foundry roof
fall in, the danger to the main works was
averted and the services of the Akron laddies
were not needed but their promptness in
responding to the call for aid was duly
appreciated all the same by the owners of the
works as well as by the citizens.
1889
March 24th
the banks of the river caught on fire, burned
nearly a mile.
1890
Empire Paper
Mill burned to the ground
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