Brick Block Fires

by River

Imagine yourself back in time in Richmond in the 1800s. You stumble out onto the street and the whole street is burning. Your coughing is drowned out by the roaring fire and screams of people searching for loved ones. You hear fire bells in the distance, everything goes hazy and you black-out.

Thankfully this doesn't happen very often anymore. However, had you been here 100 years ago fires were common. Richmond has had a series of destructive fires throughout its history, in 1870, 1891, 1908, and 1947. It used to be common for people to have lost everything and have to rebuild from scratch. Now everything is made of brick and there are thick fire walls between buildings. Richmond learned new ways to stop fires from spreading and to put them out.

1870 Fire

July 27, 1870

In late July, 1870 the barn of Ransom Hotel caught fire. Flames were discovered in the loft of the hotel barn across the street from the hotel. They spread to the neighboring buildings, Barnum's Hardware store and Cyrus' green grocery. According to a report in The Daily Free Press & Times, Barnum's house also would have burned if it had not "been for the row of thrifty trees standing between the store and the house"¹ the Hotel also would've burned. “The heat was so intense that it was only by placing wet blankets on the roof, and by constantly drenching the front with water, that the Ransom’s Hotel, across the street, was saved from being burned.”¹The heat was so intense that nearly all the windows facing the fire in the hotel cracked. ¹The buildings that burned are now a parking lot, Green Sea, and Toscanos building.

After the Fire

The hotel was saved, but the barn and its neighboring buildings burned to the ground. Richmond rebuilt quickly. The building that is now Green Sea was rebuilt into a 3 story building. 20 years later it turned into a hotel called The Bellevue House ¹just to burn down again in 1908.

1891 Fire

February 3, 1891

In the late afternoon of February 3 ,1891 The Masonic Block, owned by North Star Lodge, burned. The part that burned housed three stores and a physician’s office. Additionally, two blocks on Bridge Street, which contained three stores and tenements and a single block on Front Street, now Depot Street, also burned.

The fire started about 4:00 pm in J.P. Norton and Company. He went down to draw some oil and came upstairs to the front of the store in flames. Next to go was the boot and shoe store of F.W. Powers who lost everything. From there it spread to J.W. Whitcomb's grocery store. The entire building was in a mass of flame in an incredibly short amount of time. E.W. Freeman drug store on the Bridge Street corner suffered a total loss of all drugs and jewelry.

Help was provided by the Seth Warner Engine company from Waterbury and the Burlington Fire Department.¹

1908 Fire

April 23, 1908

Richmond's worst fire in its history burned in late winter.

Richmond lost its business district, two hotels, post office, town room, village library, several residences, and apartments over the Bridge Street stores.

The fire started at around 11:30 pm on April 23rd. It started in the Masonic building's basement. A light breeze helped the fire quickly spread north along Bridge Street and west on Depot Street (used to be called Front Street). At midnight, help was requested from the Burlington Fire Department and the fire was out by 4 am.

Richmond rebuilt. When the buildings were rebuilt they were made of brick instead of wood and they had thick fire walls between them to stop fires from spreading. ²

The fire seen from a distance

Above: rebuilding of the Brick Block

Left: list of 1908 fire losses

Photos courtesy of Richmond Historical Society

1947 fire

Richmond Feed Company burns

The fire was discovered in the wooden annex on May 16, 1947. The fire was pushed by the strong wind and burned the 3 story building along the railroad. The fire almost spread to the northwest section of the village. The wind pushed embers 200 yards across the railroad and burned the roof of a 2-family home on West Main St. Firefighters were able to stop the fire spreading to the rest of the house and the village, which still stands only it has a flat roof now. Mrs. Abe Wortheim’s barn which was close to the house caught fire multiple times. It was feared that the fire would make it further up the street, but it was put out before it could spread.

“Archie Jackson, manager, estimated the loss of the plant, contents, and equipment at $100,000.” Because of a faulty fire hydrant, the efforts to put out the fire was delayed.¹Sixteen community fire departments could not put out the blaze in the original buildings.

Photo of burning feed company

courtesy of Richmond Historical Society

2018

Richmond Today

Today many people think these are the original buildings but they were rebuilt multiple times. On the corner you can still see a few bricks scorched by the 1908 fire. Today you can stop by Sweet Simone's to talk, sit down for a excellent dinner at Hatchet's, get your haircut at Bridge Street Hair, or buy your groceries at Richmond Market. Richmond has had a lot of destructive fires throughout its history. However, we have recovered every time. Each time our town has evolved and changed.

Resources

Further resources

1.) “Chapter XIV - Big Blazes in The Business District.” Richmond, Vermont: a History of More than 200 Years, by Harriet Wheatley. Riggs, Richmond Historical Society, 2007, pp. 313–326.

2.)“Rebuilding Downtown Richmond – Spring 1908.” American Town Magazine, 10 Oct. 2012, www.townmagazine.com/rhsvt/category/information/.

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