Waterbury Fire of 1902

On the evening of February 2, 1902 and into the early morning hours of February 3rd, nearly the entire downtown section of Waterbury CT was destroyed by the worst fire recorded in city history at that time. Still standing in the image at left is the facade of the Waterbury American newspaper building on Grand Street. Today, the building is easily spotted opposite the Post Office on Grand Street in downtown Waterbury.

The following text was transcribed from the front page of the New York Times from February 3, 1902.

FIRE DOES $2,000,000 DAMAGE IN WATERBURY

Fanned by Gale, Flames Devour Buildings and Contents.

Leap from Structure to Structure and Leave Business part of Connecticut City in Ruins.

WATERBURY, Conn., Feb. 3. — The most disastrous fire in the history of Waterbury is now, 2 o'clock A.M., raging in the business centre of the city. All the fire-fighting apparatus that Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Torrington, and Naugatuck could spare is here aiding the local department, but the combined efforts of the fire fighters seem unable to check the progress of the flames. At this hour it is thought $2,000,000 will be a conservative estimate of the loss.

A large section of the business part of the city has already been wiped out, and in the high wind prevailing there is little hope of saving what still stands in that part of the business section south of Exchange Place. The fire originated at 6:30 last night in the upholstery department on the third floor of the store of Reid & Hughes Dry Goods Company at 108-112 Bank Street, and that store as well as many adjoining buildings are smoldering cinders. The origin of the conflagration is not known. The fire was not discovered till it had gained tremendous headway.

At 6:15 P.M. A. L. Lyall and E. T. Crooker and A. K. Burnham were in the store. When they left there was no smoke nor smell of smoke on the main floor. Fifteen minutes later flames were seen to burst with great force from the windows of the third florr, and almost simultaneously from the basement. Before anybody could ring in an alarm the whole interior of the building was a mass of flames.

When the Fire Department reached the scene, flames were issuing from every window of the building, and it was evident that the structure was doomed and the entire business section of the city was imperiled.

The fire started in a drizzling rain with a rapidly rising wind, and, with the increasing cold, the rain turned to snow. The wind was at first shifting, but it settled toward the east and carried destruction with it. The first building to catch from the Reid & Hughes store was a tall structure to the rear and westward, occupied by the Salvation Army Barracks and a Turkish bath. A moment or two later the flames leaped back to the eastward across Bank Street and wiped out the Ryan & Fitzmaurice Block, Cannon & Webster's drugstore, Davis's cigar store, and the store of J. B. Mullings & Sons. They burned rapidly through to South Main Street, and jumped across that street, shriveling the buildings like paper.

At the same time the flames caught the Masonic Temple and traveled from the Salvation Army Building to the rear of the Franklin House on Grand Street, and the entire block, consisting of seven or eight handsome five-story buildings, with thirty tenements and the large and commodious headquarters of The Waterbury American were soon in ruins.

After 9 o'clock the militia was called out to preserve order. There was serious talk of blowing up buildings to prevent the spread of the flames.

The fire was partially under control at 10:30 o'clock. It had been checked on South Main Street, and indications were that it would content itself on Centre Street with burning out the Long Block that contained the Franklin House and The American office.

Shortly after midnight the fire started in new places, and the efforts of the local firemen, combined with the aid given by fire-fighters and apparatus from the other cities, seemed powerless to stay its progress. The blaze was wiping out the business portion of the city, all the fire being confined to that section, though residential parts of the city were in danger by sparks driven by the furious wind.

In the panic caused by the fire there were many rumors of accidents and fatalities, but at the Waterbury Hospital at 2 o'clock it was said that no accidents or deaths had been reported there.

Losses on buildings reported up to 11 o'clock were as follows:

W. H. Camp block, in which was located Reid & Hughes's store, $75,000; Masonic Temple, $50,000; O'Connor block, $35,000; Johnson block, $40,000; Jones, Morgan & Co., clothiers, $50,000; J. B. Mullings & Son, clothiers, $100,000; Camp block, in process of demolition, $50,000; New England Engineering Company, $75,000; Franklin House, totally destroyed, $40,000; Turkish bath, W. G. Schlegel, proprietor, $20,000; Jean Jacques's block, $40,000; Mrs. W. C. Bannon's block, occupied by Anson Sellew Company, $75,000; George E. Judd block, occupied by La Palme-Hoffman Company, $35,000; Ashworth block, occupied by C. Church Company, $30,000; Waterbury American, loss on building $50,000; Schlitz Brewing Company, $30,000; Conlom Brothers, $50,000; Edward McGraw, two blocks, $85,000; Meigs block, $40,000; Whittlesey block, $20,000; Boston Furniture Company, $40,000; Bronson block, $35,000.

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Waterbury has a population of about 45,000 persons, and is situated on the Naugatuck River in New Haven County, Conn., about eighteen miles northwest of New Haven. The city is celebrated for the extend and variety of its manufacturers, the first of which, the manufacture of gilt buttons, was begun in 1802. In 1812 the rolling of brass an copper and the production of brass and copper wire was introduced, and Waterbury is now the centre of the brass industry of the country.

There is in the city six rolling mills, two clock companies, a suspender and webbing factory, and an extensive pin factory; in all about thirty stock companies, with an aggregate capital of $60,000,000, and employing over 4,000 operatives. The city supports two daily and two weekly newspapers, and owns the Bronson Free Library, which contains 18,000 volumes.

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