There was extensive damage to many of the businesses along Jackson and Main Street. In January of 1903, the section of downtown known as The "Brick Block," with buildings specifically designed to limit fire risks, fell victim all the same. The questions to be answered were what sort of town did they want to have and what were they prepared to do to have it? Elk Riverites in this period had important decisions to make.
The city was going to need to invest in the architecture and infrastructure to protect itself in order to continue its development. By the early 20th century, networks of fire departments from bigger cities were offering their services to smaller towns, but a 90-minute trip by train to bring an engine from Minneapolis meant help often took too long to arrive. However, at that hour there was no steam to operate the water pump and no one could find the hose. Lacking an actual fire department, those tools consisted of a water tank and a hose, both of which were provided by the Great Northern Railroad. While 13 frame buildings burned in April 1898, citizens made a valiant effort to put out the flames with every firefighting tool available. The fires also ranged in effect in some cases it amounted to a five figure insurance claim, and in one unfortunate incident it led to what was reported as a "Holocaust of Horses." Regardless of cause or effect, the city faced numerous tests from the outset of its settlement, and it would be a steady process to build an equal response.
Elk river star news serial#
In 1915 the newspaper published their suspicions saying, "Elk River is again in the hands of the fire fiend," suggesting the town had been the victim of an unknown, serial arsonist. The cause of these fires ranged from the clearly accidental to completely mysterious. Wheldon, who was sleeping next door, says there was quite a party of toughs out on the street during the night, and they were boisterous in their conduct, shooting off revolvers, singing and shouting." With this type of behavior, in a town whose major industries produced large amounts of wood shavings and flour dust, perhaps it’s not surprising that Elk River experienced no less than six geography-shaping fires between 18. The April 28th, 1898 edition included a quote from a witness, which provides a glimpse at life in the town during this time. "There were quite a lot of hobos about town, and it’s possible some of them may have set it on fire.either intentionally or accidentally," the Sherburne County Star News reported the morning after 13 buildings were reduced to ash in downtown Elk River. Thanks in particular to Mo Galvin, curator of the Sherburne History Center, for her help in compiling resources. These two great resources are available to anyone interested in learning more.
Elk river star news archive#
This article was made possible through research done at the Sherburne History Center and on the City of Elk River’s Laserfiche archive online. It does not store any personal data.Members of the Heritage Preservation Commission write articles exploring the interesting residents and stories of the early days of Elk River. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
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