Petrolia, Pennsylvania
Fire
December 22, 1889
DESTROYED BY FIRE
The Town of Petrolia, Pa., Wiped Out in Flame.
PITTSBURGH, Pa., Dec. 23.—A special to the
Times from Butler, Pa., says: The little
town of Petrolia, fifteen miles north of here,
once the scene of the livliest [sic] oil
happenings in the country, was decollated by a
fire which started at three o’clock yesterday
morning and raged fiercely, helped by a high
wind, until the entire business portion of the
town was destroyed, a blow from which the place
will doubtless never recover, and its seven
hundred inhabitants will seek new places to live
in other oil towns. The fire originated in
Klingensmith’s
store, and swept up Main street, consuming the
frame buildings on both sides and reaching back
to the side streets, making a clean sweep of
ruin among the stores, dwellings and hotels.
The town has a fire department which responded
promptly, but the water pipes were clogged up
and refused to do service, and the flames had it
all their own way until they died out for want
of something to burn. The buildings were all
frame affairs two stories high, the lower floors
used for business while the upper stories were
used for dwellings, and of the whole business
community there are now left but two stores, a
bank and hotel.
Owing to the inflammable material in the
buildings the rate of insurance is high and the
owners, in but an instance or two, had any
insurance, so that the loss, which will reach
between $85,000 and $100,000, is a total one and
the majority of the sufferers lose their all. No
lives were lost nor any injuries reported.
Decatur Daily Republican, Decatur, IL 23
Dec 1889
Transcribed by Dorcas
Moseley.
Thanks Dorcas!
 Search
for more information on the Petrolia Fire
and other disasters in the Historic
Newspapers Collection. The number of
newspapers on line has recently doubled - search
over 1000 different newspapers. Use this
Free trial to search for your ancestors.
Search for ancestors in
Petrolia, PA among billions of names at ancestry.com. Use this
Free trial to search for your ancestors.
Search Hundreds of Pennsylvania Family Genealogies and Local History Books
for your ancestors. Use this
Free trial for all US Records at ancestry to
find your ancestors.
|
