Houtzdale, Pennsylvania Fire
May
21, 1875
Houtzdale, a town of 900 inhabitants, six
miles from Osceola, is reported entirely
destroyed. The fire is spreading through
the woods beyond Houtzdale. At latest
accounts the fire has reached Parsonville, a
small town six miles from Houtzdale. The
ties on the railroad from Osceola to Houtzdale
are burned so that coal can not be shipped for
some time. Provisions have been sent from
homes in the vicinity, and a meeting will be
held to raise funds.
Decatur Daily Republican, Decatur, IL 22 May 1875
Sheriff McPherson left Houlzdale at 4 p.m.
The reports at that hour were that fourteen
houses were burned there and the conflagration
was raging terribly. There is no escape
for the town, every communication being cut off
by the fire through the woods. At this
writing Hoop & Humes, Taylor & Mashannon, lumber
companies; Heill's big mill and
Elliott &
Caldwell, lumber saw mills;
Crawford's foundry
and 30,000,000 feet of lumber were destroyed.
... The miners who were on a strike are
reported as working diligently to save
Houtzdale.
Steubenville Daily Herald and News,
Steubenville, OH 21 May 1875
The fire spread to the mountains surrounding
[Osceola] burning houses, timber, railroad
tracks and extending to a town of 900
inhabitants, called Hautzdale, some miles
distant from Osceola, which it is reported has
also been partially burnt.
From Houtzdale it is stated that only
fourteen houses were burned at that place, but
owing to the high wind the fire was raging
fiercely in that vicinity.
The Herald And Torch Light, Hagerstown, MD, 26 May 1875
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