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Before the demolition began to make way for the Central Artery in 1951, Beverly Street faced many destructive fires. Known for its brick exteriors and predominantly wooden interiors, buildings on Beverly Street were no match for these fires. In looking at the G.W. Bromley & Co. Maps, 31-109 Beverly Street buildings are colored-in red, which means they are brick. Below are just a few of the many events that threatened buildings on Beverly Street.
September 23, 1887
Fire at 43-49 Beverly Street
On September 23, 1887, the building occupied by Clark, Putnam & Co. burned. As it was a furniture company, the flammable, wood furniture caught fire and continued to spread throughout the building. Aside from the furniture being made of wood, the finishing department floor of the furniture warehouse was coated with oil, used for wood finishes, and only aided in the fire. The fire continued to rapidly spread to 43 to 49 Beverly Street. Clark, Putnam & Co, lost about $9,000 to $10,000, but was insured for about $7,000.
Located next to the Clark, Putnam & Co. building was the Boston Sarven Wheel Company, owned by James White, whose products and machinery were also severely damaged by the fire. All together, the buildings on Beverly Street were estimated to have lost between $20,000 and $25,000 in damages.
july 1905
Fire at 43-49 Beverly Street
In July of 1905, a three-alarm fire at 43 to 49 Beverly Street, was discovered by Bilas G. Reardon, an engineer in the area. The fire originated in a room on the second floor of George H. Carter's wood manufacturing business on Beverly Street. The upper part of the brick, five-story building was in flames by the time the first alarm firemen responded to the scene. The contents found on the second and top floors of the building were burned, and the fire weakened the wood supports between two floors, weakening the structure of the entire building. The loss was estimated to be around $25,000.
november 10, 1906
Fire at 67 Beverly Street
Located on the first floor of the five-story building of 67 Beverly Street, the Torrey Marble Company suffered damages from a fire on the morning of November 10, 1906. The damages were extremely costly, estimated at about a $250,000 loss for the company. The fire originated from an adjoining wooden building to Bowker, Torrey & Co., located at 12 and 14 Medford Street. Although the side of the Beverly Street building was protected by fire shutters, a couple were left open on the third floor, allowing the fire to spread from building to building. Although the street level floor occupied by Bowkey, Torrey & Co. suffered the most damage, Firestone Tire and Rubber Company occupied the next two floors, and the upper two floors were occupied by a candy manufacturer; all floors suffered losses from the fire. Three alarms and rounds of firefighter units responded to the scene, and luckily rain began to fall during the night, wetting the rooftops of the neighboring wooden buildings.
september 1907
Fire at 45-49 Beverly Street
Although the origin of the fire remained unknown, a fire broke out in the early morning of September 16, 1907, at 45 to 49 Beverly Street. This five-story building was occupied by a few wood-working manufacturing firms, which, the wood probably led to the rapid spread of the fire. Although iron shutters on the side of the buildings were closed and somewhat protecting the spread of fire, opening these shutters to ventilate the building was extremely dangerous and made fighting the fire more difficult. The smoke from the fire was so thick and prominent, it took about fifteen minutes for the firefighters to just make their way in through the building’s entrance. Firemen decided to open the iron shutters, and sounded two more alarms in preparation for fires to roar out from the shutters. Damages were estimated at about $10,000.
january 28, 1930
Fire at 99 Beverly Street
On the night of January 28, 1930, a fire broke out at 99 Beverly Street. At this time 99 Beverly Street was occupied by Furniture Manufacturers’ Outlet Warehouse, also known as A.H. Davenport Furniture. As seen as a trend, these furniture businesses have a lot of fires due to the abundance of wood products and supplies. The fire originated from the third floor and spread to the fourth floor of the brick building. It was discovered by a man in passing, James G. Doherty and he sounded the fire alarm, and three minutes later the first unit of firemen arrived at the scene. The burning furniture caused major smoke and soon it created a spectacle on Beverly Street, attracting a crowd of concerned people. The damage was estimated to cost about $12,000.
February 22, 1941
Fire at 39-41 Beverly Street
A fire at the five-story brick building at 39 to 41 Beverly Street broke out on the afternoon of February 22, 1941. The most damage was on the first floor which was occupied by the W.O. McDuffle Company, and the second floor, occupied by the Henry McManus Company. The fire was caused by a short circuit and the estimated loss for damage was about $5,000. Unfortunately, fireman Peter Finnegan was injured in the process by flying glass that broke because of the fire. Twenty-five people from George Washington Associates fled from the adjoining building.
Bibliography for this page
"FURNITURE BURNED.: CLARK, PUTNAM & CO. LOSE ABOUT $20,000. GRAVENBURST OUT, ALMOST ENTIRELY DESTROYED BY FIRE. MINOR BLAZES IN NORTH ADAMS, MANSFIELD AND ELSEWHERE." 1887.Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), Sep 24, 5. https://holycross.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=cas&url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/furniture-burned/docview/493389960/se-2.
"DAMAGE OF $25,000.: THREE-ALARM FIRE AT 43-49 BEVERLY ST. WATER TOWER SMASHES A PLATE GLASS WINDOW IN DOCK SQ. BLASTING POWDER EXPLODED SHET AT QUINCY SET ON FIRE AND EXPLOSION HELPED TO COMPLETE ITS DESTRUCTION." 1905.Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), Jul 24, 10. https://holycross.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=cas&url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/damage-25-000/docview/500447579/se-2.
"250,000 FIRE IN NORTH END: BUILDING ON BEVERLY AND MEDFORD STS GUTTED. OCCUPIED BY TORREY MARBLE WORKS AND TOOL FACTORY." 1906.Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), Nov 10, 1. https://holycross.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=cas&url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/250-000-fire-north-end/docview/500642713/se-2.
"FIRE LOSS IS $10,000: THREE ALARMS RUNG IN. DANGEROUS BLAZE IN BEVERLY ST. DENSE SMOKE MADE WORK OF FIREMEN DIFFICULT. BURNED FLOOR OCCUPIED BY WOODWORKERS." 1907.Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), Sep 16, 9. https://holycross.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=cas&url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/fire-loss-is-10-000/docview/500898641/se-2.
"Fire Loss 1 -- no Title." 1930.Daily Boston Globe (1928-1960), Jan 29, 10. https://holycross.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=cas&url=https://www-proquest-com.holycross.idm.oclc.org/historical-newspapers/fire-loss-1-no-title/docview/758179689/se-2.
"Eireman Hurt in Two-Alarm North End Blaze: 25 Flee Adjoining Building; Damage Estimated at $5000." 1941.Daily Boston Globe (1928-1960), Feb 23, 1. https://holycross.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=cas&url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/eireman-hurt-two-alarm-north-end-blaze/docview/820773219/se-2.
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