Chelsea’s first recorded fire
In 1834, Mr. Hanscomb built a wheel-wright shop on Park Street,
Chelsea Square. {All buildings on this section of Park Street from
Williams to Winnisimmet Street, were moved in later years, to widen
Chelsea Square}. Mr. Hanscomb’s building was the first building in
the Ferry Village to burn. The wind was blowing strong from the
northwest on the morning of the fire. The building and contents were
so combustible that it burned rapidly. The wind carried sparks and
embers over most of the Village. Chelsea did not posses an engine at
that time, but Engine #15 and crew came over from Boston and
proceeded to put the fire out.
Selfridge Shipyard on Marginal Street opposite Shawmut Street
contained a large ship house on the property beyond which the ship
building took place. Mr. Selfridge had built the steam ferry
“Bellingham” in 1836. Mr. Selfridge retired from
shipbuilding in 1841. The large ship house was then used by Stephen
Sibley as a laundry. Late in 1843 an alarm of fire sounded for the
laundry. Engine #l responded immediately, while trying to get into
operation it was found the engine was frozen. Before they could get
Engine #l working, Boston Engine #15, located near the East Boston
Ferry arrived and got the first water stream on the fire.
After the destruction of Stephen Sibley’s laundry in 1843, Mr. Sibley
bought the building. The upper floor was made into a hall while the
rest of the building was used for a laundry with a paper stationery
company in the basement. Early one morning in 1848 fire struck again.
With a gale force wind from the northeast, the building was soon
fullly involved in flames. Many homes were threatened when rolls of
burning paper were carried in the high wind over a huge portion of
the Village landing on roofs and on the Naval Hospital grounds. Some
people, blocks away from the fire, began moving their furniture out
of their home, preparing to evacuate. Had the wind shifted more
inland Chelsea’s first conflagration would have occurred at a much
earlier point in history.
About two o’clock on a Sunday morning late in 1849, the Engine #l
house caught fire. The house burned rapidly and the fire gained great
headway before being discovered. The engine and the house were
heavily damaged. The town voted to build a new house with a new
Engine #l next to the Park Street School (location of Police
Station}. The burned remains of the old Engine #l were dug out of the
ruins and repaired at a cost of $679.75 and placed in a leased house.
A building, formerly the St. Lukes Church, on Broadway completely
destroyed by fire.
On May 31, 1882, at 4:55 P.M. Sparks from a cupalo furnace caused a
fire at Hodge’s Foundry resulting in the loss of two large wooden
buildings on the property of C. A. Campbell and caused damage to two
buildings on Front Street and nine buildings on Medford Street. The
following list of buildings were damaged:
A wooden building on the wharf owned by C. A. Campbell as a storehouse
A wooden building on the wharf owned by C. A. Campbell occupied by
Sturgis Chaddock as storehouse
A dwelling on Front Street owned and occupied by Sturgis Chaddock as
a brick factory.
A dwelling at No. 26 Front Street owned by Sylvester Edwards and
occupied by Thomas Brown.
A brick dewlling at 24 Front Street owned by Thomas Holderness and
occupied by Frederick Emmons.
A brick dwelling at 32 Medford Street owned and occupied by Gustavus
V. Salisbury and Charles H. Stowe.
A brick dwelling at 34 Medford Street owned by Sophia G. Knight and
occupied by Mrs. Jeremiah Hunt.
A brick dwelling at 36 Medford Street owned by Mrs. Emily T. Baker
and occupied by Michael J. Sullivan.
A brick dwelling at 38 Medford Street owned and occupied by Sarah C. Hackett.
A dwelling at 40 Medford Street owned by Lyman G. Smith and occupied
by Graham fortis.
A brick dwelling at 42 and 44 Medford Street owned by the Trustees of
the Home for Little Wanderers and occupied by Frank Chase and Henry Templeton.
A brick dwelling at 46 Medford Street owned and occupied by Mrs.
Elmira Hamilton.
A brick dwelling at 48 Medford Street owned by Mrs. Sarah P. Briggs
and occupied by R. H. Knight.
A dwelling at 71 Chestnut Street owned and occupied by Joseph Maggi.
There were a number of incipient fires in the vicinity of Medford
Street and Broadway due to flying embers from this fire on Campbell’s Wharf.
On November 12, 1882, while fighting a naptha fire in the Charles
Rogers Extracting Company on Eastern Avenue, an explosion occurred
seriously burning nine firefighters and injuring many others with
slight burns.
On July 3, 1884 a fire occurred in the Revere Rubber Mill main
building on Eastern Avenue. The main building and a four story brick
and a two story brick storehouse were completely destroyed. – Loss of $434,000.00
In late July of 1884 buildings at the corner of Maple and Auburn
Streets caught fire. The fire spread to a number of dwellings and
destroyed the large coal shed of the Chelsea Gas Company.
On Friday, December 10, 1886 at 4:20 A.M. a fire in a three story
brick building at 9 Congress Avenue, owned by the Thomas Cunningham
heirs and occupied by Mr. Tarbox as a bakery was caused by a kettle
of fat boiling over. Peter Brennan, an employee, received severe
burns which proved fatal.
Magee Furnace Company fire – Loss of $18,116.00
On April 17, 1890 at 10:05 P.M. an unknown explosion set fire
simultaneously to three floors of a four story wooden building used
as a grain elevator at the foot of Gerrish Avenue. The fire spread to
a one story wooden building used as a foundry by the United States
Foundry Company and a two story building used for the storage of
patterns. The fire ignited a one story brick building owned by
A.A.White and Company as a varnish store house and a two and one half
story stable at the foot of Gerrish Avenue owned by a Mrs. Alice H.
Davis. Total loss was $30,185.00.
On August 10, 1893 at 5:41 P.M. box 4 was sounded for a fire at
Cook’s Farm in several one and one half story stables on Washington
Avenue near the Everett line. These buildings consisted of several
barns, all connected and filled with hay. This fire was outside the
water supply with the nearest hydrant over 3000 feet away. At this
fire, driver Grover and engineman Brown of engine 3 and spare driver
Perkins of the chemical engine were severly burned. The horses of
engine 3 were injured so badly that one was sold for $55.00 and the
other killed. The cause of the fire was unknown with damages of $23,485.00.
On May 9, 1894 at 10:16 A.M.box 13 was sounded for the A. L. Haskell
& Son Mattress Factory at the corner of Marginal and Shurtleff
Streets. The fire was in a three story wooden building and was caused
by sparks from a picking machine. The fire extended to a two and one
half story wooden dwelling at 94 Marginal Street owned by William
Pratt and occupied by J. Peterson. The fire also extended to two
other buildings with slight damage. Damage from this fire was $11,321.30.
On June 30, 1894 at 9:06 A.M. box 4 at the corner of Sagamore and
Cheever Street was sounded for a fire at the Mount Washington Spring
Company. A two and one half story wooden building located on
Washington Avenue, near Cook Avenue, used for the manufacture of
tonics. Cause of the fire was unknown. Loss of $13,900.00.
On October 1, 1897 at 3:45 P.M., two persons were severly burned by
an explosion of naptha gas at 311 Broadway. The windows of the
building were blown out and the building set on fire.
On May 13, 1902 at 10:45 P.M. Box 36 was sounded for a fire at the
Bond Block at the corner of Broadway and Parker Street. The fire had
started in the wooden stable in the rear which and extended to six
other buildings. A second alarm was sounded and assistance responed
from Everett and Revere. The fire was confined to the buildings
burning at the time of the alarm, although fifteen other buildings
were damaged from sparks from the original fire. The loss by this
fire was $35,036.60. Leonard C. Lewis was arrested and confessed to
setting the fire to the stable. He was convicted and sent to Concord
Reformatory for a long term.
On June 9, 1902 at 12:01 A.M. a serious fire occured in the wooden
buildings on Front Street occupied by Dennis A. O’Brien and Company,
roofers. This fire spread rapidly to the wooden sheds of George D.
Emery Company, helped by the explosion of a barrel of gasoline in the
yard. Assistance was asked from Boston which responed promptly with
two engines. The loss by this fire was $10,491.82. The fire was of
incendiary origin.
On January 9, 1904 at 8:45 P.M. box 43 was sounded for a fire at 14
Franklin Avenue. The Magee house, owned by Harris Soloman, on
Franklin Avenue caught fire. Cause unknown. Loss of $9,600.00.
On June 25, 1904 at 7:04 P.M. The Planting Mill of Thomas Appleton on
Marginal Street was struck by lightning and caught fire. Loss of
$5,400.00. (Box 19 and Box 12)
On July 5, 1904, late Tuesday afternoon, a huge fire at the Mystic
Wharf in Charlestown attracted as much attention from Chelsea people
as though the fire had been in the city and vast crowds journeyed to
the bridge to watch the spectacular blaze. Chief Spencer of the
Chelsea fire department drove to Charlestown and offered the services
of his department to Chief Cheswell of Boston. The latter asked the
Chelsea chief to look out for the heavy wooden underpinning of the
elevated bridge that crosses the Mystic River. The heat from the fire
had already set these timbers smoking and there was a grave danger
that this expensive structure would be destroyed. Two lines of hose
were laid the entire length of the bridge from the Chelsea side to
the burning elevator. By steadily keeping at it, in the face of
almost overpowering heat, they managed to keep the heavy timbers of
the bridge intack thus saving the Chelsea North Bridge.
On September 16, 1904 box 26 was sounded for a fire at the Williams
School on Walnut Street. The school suffered a serious fire resulting
in the loss of $11,185.00. The first alarm was received at 11:45
P.M.. The cause of the fire was undetermined.
On November 27, 1904 at 6:59 A.M. box 51 was sounded for the Vavoline
Oil Works at the foot of Cottage Street. Cause of the fire was
unknown. Loss of $3,500.00
On Thursday, January 12, 1905 at 12:04 A.M. the Chelsea Fire
Department received an alarm of fire from box 18. The first arriving
apparatus found a smoke clogged square and found the Academy of Music
fully involved in a mass of flames. The fire had gained such
extensive headway before being discovered that it was impossible to
save the building. A second alarm was sounded at 12:08 A.M. followed
by the mutual aid call 698. There was no fire break in that part of
the square and Cross Street did not exist at the time. All stores and
buildings in that exposure became threatened by the fire. The
businesses in the Academy building and the Academy itself were
completely destroyed. The hotel to the left of the fire building
received received minimal damage thanks to the strenuous efforts of
the firefighters. A dwelling and a business on Division Street and a
dwelling on Park Street also received exposure damage. The fire loss
was the greatest in Chelsea’s history since the Revere Rubber Milll
fire in 1884.
Mount Bellingham Methodist Church destroyed by fire on September 25, 1905
On September 27, 1906 box 46 was sounded for a fire in the Prattville
Car Barns on Washington Avenue owned by the Boston & Northern
Street Railroad. A fire alarm box was located within seventy-five
feet and a combination company within 200 yards of this building. Due
to the delay in giving the alarm, the entire interior of the building
was in flames by the time the fire department arrived. Two employees,
on duty inside the building, tried to extinguish the fire in its
early stages, and failing this turned their attention to saving some
of the cars, neglecting to give an alarm to the fire department. Two
cars near the front entrance were saved but the loss to the building
and contents was estimated at $204.481.00
January 22, 1908 box 28 was sounded for a serious fire on Auburn
Street which destroyed or damaged thirteen buildings. It was one of
the largest fires that had occurred in Chelsea’s closely built west
side up to this time. At one point the fire seemed to threaten the
destruction of all the buildings within a radius of half a mile due
to flying embers and a strong south west wind. With the assistance of
East Boston, Everett and Charlestown, however, the blaze was confined
to a much smaller area. The fire jumped Auburn Street and damaged a
two story tenement house owned by Louis Astravosky. The firemen made
a determined stand at this house and this marked the northern
extremity of the fire. Beyond it were several rag shops and had they
caught fire the whole section between Auburn and Second Streets would
have been doomed. The firemen of Hose No. 3 made a heroic stand at
this point remaining until their hands were burned by the intense
heat and they were forced to abandon their hose. Meanwhile the fire
jumped eastward across Maple Street and set fire to the residence of
John Lawlor. From Lawlor’s house the fire spread to the Auburn Street
block of small tenements. An eighth of a mile away the home of Rosie
Flynn caught fire from flying embers, but was quickly put out. During
the progress of the fire several houses in the neighborhood caught
fire from sparks but were put out by residents and neighbors with
pails of water and garden hoses.
CONFLAGRATION:
The First Great Chelsea Fire – April 12, 1908. 2,822 buildings destroyed.
On the morning of September 21, 1908, sparks from a locomotive
ignited a rear building of the Atwood and McManus Box Company on
Everett Avenue at Vale Street. By the time the fire alarm was sounded
at 8:00 A.M., the wind had whipped the fire into a mass of flames
throughout the building. Upon the arrival of the fire department a
second alarm was sounded from box 28, followed by a call for mutual
aid at 8:06 A.M. Before being brought under control, the fire had
destroyed all the buildings of the Atwood and McManus plant, the Pope
and Cottle Lumber Yard, the Union Metal Company, the Steel Shank
Company, a bottling company, a two story dwelling and freight cars
belonging to the Boston and Maine Railroad. A number of dwellings
received less damage due to flying sparks and embers. Damage to the
Atwood and McManus Company estimated at $414,000.00.
On December 21, 1908 at 9:47 P.M. the valuable mahogany mills of
George D. Emery at 1 Broadway, were destroyed by fire. (Box 8) Loss
of $84,200.00. Cause unknown.
Three major fires were recorded for 1911 with a culuminative damage
of $50,000.00. Thomas Appleton Company, George D. Emery Company and
the Colonial Bed Company.
On Saturday morning, December 26, 1914 at 8:23 A.M. an alarm of fire
was received from box 26. Upon arrival the fire department found
massive fire and smoke issuing from the Pope and Cottle Lumber
Company yard at 140 Carter Street. A second alarm was immediately
sounded. The fire was spreading with immense speed creating the fear
of another conflagration. The fire department remained at the scene
all day and all night enduring zero degree temperatures and severe
inclement weather. On Sunday morning, Chief Hudson sounded the
special call bringing in all call firefighters to give a much needed
relief to the permanent men. Pope and Cottle experienced a huge fire
loss, but recovered and remained in business for another thirty five years.
On May 10, 1918 at 11:54 P.M. Box 28 was sounded for a fire in the
rag shop of David Feinberg and Company at 240 Second Street. The fire
was caused by rubber heating in a barrel which spread to rubbish in
the yard. At 3:40 A.M. a second fire broke out at box 28 for a rag
shop at 112 Auburn Street occupied by Jacob Bargar. A second alarm
was sounded when this fire spread to the rag shop of Rosenberg
Brothers at 209 Maple Street. The cause of this fire was undetermined.
On January 11, 1919 at 12:21 A.M. a two alarm fire broke out in the
foundry building of the Griffin Wheel Company on 33 Gerrish Avenue.
Damage to the building was $80,235.17 with a loss to the contents of
$89,748.17. The cause of the fire was unknown.
On January 20, 1919 at 11:20 P.M. box 212 was sounded for a fire in a
cane factory at 191 Williams Street. The building was owned by
Shapiro Brothers and occupied by the Southwest Cane Company. A second
alarm was sounded at 11:22 P.M. The cause of the fire was unknown
with a loss to the building and contents of $81,000.00.
On February 23, 1919 at 4:41 A.M. box 241 was sounded for a factory
fire at the New Boston Business Company at 166 Elm Street. The
factory building was owned by the Chelsea Foundry Company. A second
and third alarm were quickly sounded at 4:43 and 4:44 A.M. due to the
intensity of the fire. The cause was unknown with a loss to the
building of $56,650.00.
On March 19, 1919 at 3:59 A.M. a three alarm fire broke out at the
mercantile establishment owned and occupied by James Bloomberg at 19
Everett Avenue. Box 13 was sounded with exposure damage to the
businesses of M. Murray and Company, S. Wasser, Messing & Blake,
Morris Stone and Margolin & Freeman. The cause of the fire was unknown.
On July 7, 1919 at 1:18 A.M. a box 24 was sounded for a fire in the
stable at 248 Arlington Street, owned by Harry Fickman and occupied
by the Bay State Smelting Company. A second alarm was sounded at 1:26
A.M. Also damaged due to exposure were the Somerset Club and
residences of P. J. Farrel, Harry Tamansky and Harry Bostonian. The
cause of the fire was unknown.
In September of 1926 a general alarm fire broke out in the old Magee
Furnace Company building on Marginal Street. The building was
unoccupied except for the first floor which was the office of the
Beacon Waste and Supply Company. The building was owned by the
Texacco Oil Company. The interior of the walls were soaked with oil
and when the firefighters arrived the building was a roaring furnace.
The fire was so intense that four homes across the street at 90, 92,
96 and 98 Marginal Street were blistered by the heat. Additional
problems were created by the collapsing walls which were a menace to
the firefighters.
On May 12, 1952 a fire broke out at the Chelsea Armory on Broadway
and Armory Street. The two story brick building was headquarters of
the 772nd Anti-Aircraft Automatic Weapons Gun Batalion of the
Massachusetts National Guard. The fire was first noticed by telephone
operator Martha Lathrop who notified the fire department. The first
alarm was sounded at 9:20 P.M. As the firefighters arrived there was
a loud hot-air explosion and clouds of heavy black smoke and flames
poured out of the doors and windows. Chief Charles G. Voke ordered a
second, third and fourth alarm in rapid succession summoning aid from
Everett, Boston, Revere and Winthrop. The blaze started in the
basement and caught on to closets and the beams. .22 calibre
ammunition began exploding from the heat of the blaze. Holes were
broken through the drill floor with axes so firefighters could direct
the water lines into heart of the fire. The fire was brought under
control at 11:30 P.M. and finally extinguished in the early morning
hours. Seventeen firefighters were hospitalized, Joseph Hurley, James
G. Better, John O’Connor, John Keohane and William J. Buckley of
Ladder 2, Morris Margolis and Edward Arsenault of Engine 2, Lt.
William Capistran, Elmer Chapman, Arthur E. Guegen and Daniel L.
Delaney of Engine 4, Lt. William Grover and Robert Martin of Engine
3, Morris Mills of Engine 5, John Walsh of Boston Ladder 2, James
Sheehan of Boston Engine 6 and Michael Monahan of Boston Engine 5.
A Sergeant Gordon K. Young, 31, of 13 Louis Street, caretaker of the
armory confessed to flicking a lit match into an overturned can of
lacquer thinner and starting the fire. He was booked at the local
police station on charges of arson.
The J. S. Green Building, a large corner block at Broadway and Second
Street built in 1853, was destroyed by a three alarm fire on December
6, 1957. The building measured 62 feet by 120 feet extending back to
Cherry Street from Broadway. It was three stories high reduced to two
stories after a Thanksgiving Eve fire in 1950. The building was
beyond repair and was torn down.
Gulf Oil Farm fire –
January 3, 1969
On November 9, 1970 a major fire was discovered in the auditorium of
the Chelsea Senior High School. The damage to the building was
estimated at $500.000 with no estimate on contents.
On January 30, 1971 a suspicious fire broke out in the auditorium of
the Williams School. This fire caused an estimated $3000 damage to
the school and no estimate to the contents.
On March 10, 1971 at 10:22 P.M. a fire broke out on the Hawthorne
Street side of the Shurtleff School. The fire was discovered by two
young boys who ran to the Engine One station at the corner of Park
and Cross Streets to inform firefighters. Deputy Chief William E.
Coyne reported that upon arrival flames could be seen engulfing room
26 on the ground floor on Hawthorne Street. The room had been used
for art instruction. Firefighters from Engine One, Two, Three, Five
and Ladder One and Two immediately entered the building by breaking
through windows and bringing in hoselines. The fire was kept to one
alarm and is believed to have started in a stack of papers piled in
one part of the art room. It is suspected that this fire was the work
of an arsonist. This was the third school fire in Chelsea in the last
five months with damage estimated at $6000.
On Thursday evening, March 11, 1971, a fire of suspicious origin
completely destroyed the Carter Junior High School on Forsyth Street
with an estimated $3 million dollars damage. Shortly after 9:00 P.M.
an alarm of fire was sounded from box 432. When firefighters arrived
smoke was billowing out the rear of the building. When the front door
of the school was forced open the auditorium was a mass of flames.
Lines were laid into the building and the first water on the fire
seemed to knock down the fire. A second alarm was sounded at 9:24
P.M. for manpower. It appeared that the fire was under control but a
further investigation revealed that the fire had spread to the upper
floors. The fire had apparently spread through the air duct in the
hall to the upper floors and then mushroomed through the walls and
finally broke into the open on the top floor. At this point the chief
ordered a third alarm which brought in additional men and equipment
from surrounding cities and towns. The fire had now spread throughout
the entire school. Headmaster Joseph Shultz was at the fire scene
early in the evening but as he saw the fire spread and realized the
school would be destroyed, he had to leave the scene because he could
not bear to see his beloved school go up in smoke. As the fire began
to become progressively worse, large flying brands began to spread
over the area. Homes directly across the street on Forsyth and
Franklin Streets were evacuated. At 10:53 P.M. the offshift call,
6-6, was sounded to bring in all off duty men to relieve the
exhausted firefighters. Firefighters from Everett, Revere, Boston,
Malden, Saugus, Winthrop, Medford, Watertown and Lynn were called to
assist local firefighters. Chelsea Fire Chief Herbert C. Fothergill
stated that the school was a total loss and practically all that
remains are the outer walls. A large portion of the rear wall caved
in during the height of the fire. This was the fourth suspicious fire
in a Chelsea school in the last five months.
CONFLAGRATION:
The Second Great Chelsea Fire – October 14, 1973
On Tuesday, May 24, 1974 a five alarm fire struck the American Barrel
Company on Carter Street. The first alarm was sounded shortly before
9:00 A.M. and within 20 minutes the walls of the American Barrel
Company crumpled. The presence of creosote, a highly flammable
substance used to treat barrels fed the flames. In quick succession
Deputy Chief William Capistran orderd a second, third, fourth and
fifth alarms sounded. Gasses in the building caused the flames to
explode with the sound of cannons. Deputy Frederick Resca said heat
transference caused the fire to spread to the Murdock Corporation at
158 Carter Street and other surrounding buildings. Ponn Machine
Cutting Company, 245 Everett Avenue and Leatherstone Inc., 217
Everett Avenue went up in flames. The fire then spread to Chase
Parker Company at 211 Everett Avenue, Gans Tire wharehouse and Plamer
Spring Company before noon. Dense smoke poured out of Gans Tire as
heavy aircraft tires burned. Police closed the expressway, Tobin
Bridge, Broadway and Everett Avenue to prevent cars from hindering
firefighting efforts. State Police arrived at the scene to assist the
Chelsea Police. Firefighters opened Chelsea Stadium to house fire
apparatus in safety. Firefighters hosed neighboring Thomas Strahan
Company and stood watch atop the building to put out fires caused by
any flying embers. Firefighters injured in the fire were Captain Paul
Riley, Lieutenant Charles Crowley, Lieutenant Gerald Buckley,
Firefighters Charles Szczerbinski, Frank Carolan, Arthur Gueguen,
John Kanarkiewcz, Paul Sweney, Raymond Johnson, Chester Winam and
Dennis Williams, who was adimited to the Chelsea Memorial Hospital
with first degree burns and heat exhaustion. Also injured were Boston
Firefighters John Conway and Richard Woods.
On New Years Eve, January 1, 1978 a three alarm blaze at 172 – 174
Pearl Street claimed the lives of a veteran Chelsea Fire Captain, two
young brothers, and their babysitter, in a tragedy that has stunned
the city. Dead due to the fire are Fire Captain James E. Trainor, 53,
who suffered a fatal heart attack while fighting the blaze; the two
youngsters, Dennis Elliot, 4, and his brother Michael, 2 1/2; and
their babysitter, Walter Juskiewicz, 26, of East Boston, a former
Chelsea resident.
See main text of the New Years Eve
Fire Tragedy.
On November 30, 1978, a five alarm fire destroyed eight dwellings on
Poplar and Walnut Streets. At 10:43 P.M. box 236 was sounded. When
firefighters arrived they found heavy fire and smoke pouring from the
rear of the buildings. Captain Robert Denning, who was acting Deputy
Chief quickly ordered a second alarm at 10:44 P.M. A third alarm was
sounded at 10:47 P.M. At 10:52 P.M the fire was reported “out of
control” and a fourth alarm was struck. Fearing the fire would
engulf the other wooden dwellings in the block, due to the intense
heat and flying embers, a fifth alarm was struck at 11:10 P.M. With
the sounding of the successive alarms, firefighters and apparatus
from Boston, Everett, Revere, Winthrop, Saugus, Lynn, Somerville,
Cambridge, Brookline and Newton responded with additional help. It is
believed that the fire started in the rear of the buildings, which in
this particular area are but a few feet apart. It quickly engulfed
the rear of the buildings at 200-202-204 and 206 Poplar Street and
the rear of 223-225-227 and 229 Walnut Street. All these buildings
were two and three story wood frame dwellings.
An eight alarm fire destroys the Standard
Box Company on Gerrish Avenue – June 6, 1997
