Anamosa - A Reminiscence 1838 - 1988

gangway. Superhuman efforts were made to save this
building and contents. Several carriages had been
finished and ready to go to the purchasers. One carriage
was priced at $600 and had been ready to be delived to
L.N. Pitcher's Livery stable. This building was saved by
the crowd.
There appeared to be three types of persons who
followed the fires: the sincere helpers. the curious. and
those who went to plunder. As there was no organized
fire department. as such. at this time. it is conceivable
that the majority of those persons who diligently
hurried to the scene of the flres could envision their
own possible future need.
In this instance. a Mr. Simons. an employee of Tice‘s.
lived on the second floor over the finishing rooms. and
is representative of the resultant actions of the types of
persons of which we alluded. Firstly, he suffered the
loss of dishes and furniture which were carelessly
thrown out of the window. Secondly. he lost a trunk;
stolen during the confusion. which was found the next
day pilfered of its contents.(On a later date the city
council offered a $50.00 reward for the arrest and
conviction. of the person or persons who took his
trunk.) Lastly, the “crowd”. who came to assist.
exhibited a sincere and “superhuman" effort to
preserve the property of their fellow townsman.
Mr. Tice‘s loss was $2.000. he was insured for $700.
A.S. Atkinson $3.000. had $1000 worth of insurance.
Mr. Simon's loss was $150 with no insurance. Other
parties‘ loss amounted to S200. Thus the $5.350 fire
was a serious matter for the little town. Tice and
Atkinson, after the fire. had a building constructed
"uptown". across from the Union Depot.
Another of the five fires destroyed the barn in the
west end of town. owned by early-settler. Sam
Brunskill. it was believed to be the first frame barn
erected in the county. and was built in 1841 by G.H.
Ford, when he first ran the Wapsi House. The barn was
located west of his inn. and was purchased by Sam
Brunskill in 1863 and moved to the new location near
the vicinity of Main and Elm streets.
It was reported that men, women and boys rushed
pell-meil to the scene of the flre. Those. of the immense
crowd that gathered. who brought pails. were almost
"sweltering" in their efforts to conflne the flames and
save the surrounding buildings. Despite their efforts.
the 31-year old oak-frame barn was lost.
._
In October 1873. "Old Charley" Crockwell's house.
built in 1851, was the first home in the corporation to
be destroyed by fire. Located. on the highest
prominence. facing the west end of town. it was also the
first brick home constructed in Anamosa. and was
regarded as one of the "political" residences of the
county. Charley had given up the Eureka in disgust.
and moved to Council Bluffs in 1859.
In March. 1874 a fire at Rhodine's Jewelry Store
brought forth another response from the editor of the
Anamosa Eureka. Thomas E. Booth: “in our present
defenseless condition against flres. the loss would have
been serious."
Again in November, Booth wrote: “Suppose a flre had
broken out in the business portion of Anamosa during
the days and nights of high wind we have just
experienced. What could we have done to prevent an
uninterrupted sweep of destruction?" He added.
“Didn't wake up in the night and experience any
uneasiness did you?" When the question arose whether
or not it would be feasible to build public cisterns for
use in fighting fires, a letter to the editor. published
June l 1. 1874. signed simply. Observer. wrote.“Now it
really seems there are two sides to this story. for several
individuals owning property from the Fisher I-louse.
eastward. on both sides of Main Street. to construct a
series of reservoirs, or cisterns. that would hold a few
thousand barrels of water. for THEIR OWN USE: or for
the already over-burdened city to be taxed to do it? It
tseems to me it would be taxing the many to benefit the
ew.
“ I think the first thing for the business part of town to
do. is procure water. It is high time that some steps
were taken. Call a meeting and organize a Hook and
Ladder Co.. if nothing more." This individual then
asks. “Where are our Babcock Extinguishers?"
In that same issue an article was published
discussing the ramifications of a public waterworks:
"We have been assured that careful estimates have
been made as to the cost of a fire department and the
cost of building a reservoir on any of the several
eminences, north of town. There are many details to
be carefully investigated and compared in connection
with, a hand engine department: a steam engine
department; or a water works system."
“We suggest a public meeting be called and the
subject fully discussed in its various bearing. for it is a
conceded fact that something must be done to provide a
means of protection against fire."
As late as December 1874. the subject of a
waterworks was still in the talking stage. When
February 14. 1875. rolled around. so did the big flre
that for years had been portended. The issue of the
paper following the big flre of 1875 proclaimed: "Big
Fire At Lastl".
“A Single Fire That Has Cost More Than The
Expense Necessary To Establish A System Of
Waterworks.
“Last Sunday a.m. about half-past one, wild cries of.
'flrel, flrel' broke upon the stillness of the night. The
Congregational Church bell reechoed the dreadful
alarm, and in a few minutes. hundreds of citizens were
rushing in the direction of the lurid light of roaring and
crackling flames bursting out of what was formerly
known as the old court house building. occupied by
A.N. Dennison. dealer in boots and shoes. and E.
Perfect. grocery dealer.
"There was only a slight breeze from the NW. but the
headway which the flre had attained and the
combustible nature of the wooden buildings. filling the
space between the Union Block. [northeast corner of
Ford and Gamavillo streets) and Frank Fisher's
building (across from the bottom of Booth Street)
rendered it almost impossible for our citizens to avail
anything against the devouring flames. Nothing of
Dennison's boot and shoe shop was saved.
“Four barrels of kerosene were hurriedly moved from
the back of Emory Perfects grocery establishment. The
building belonged to Colonel Shaw.
“The next building on the east belong to C. Holcomb.
of Cass township and was occupied by A.E. Parody.
boot and shoemaker. Holcomb also owned the joining
building. occupied by D.l-I. Kelley as a barber shop.
Kelley's flxtures were nearly all saved.
“Next was the post office building. owned by B.L.
Matson. Lon Kinert. post office clerk. rescued
everything of importance. G.W. Strode & Son. jewelers.
in the post office building lost $125. mostly in tools.
(Strode later advertised for his silversmith tools that
were lost the night of the fire and offered a reward for
their return).