Gresham Fire, 1901

More about this item

Description

Photograph of fire damage from an October 1st, 1901 fire that burned most of Gresham's business district. The fire destroyed 7 buildings along Powell on either side of Main, reaching past the Rexall drugstore on the east and threatening Gresham Grade School on the west. The photo was taken south of Powell looking east. It shows the corner of Gresham Rexall Drugstore, a bridge spanning the gulch that has since been filled in, and charred debris with some smoke still rising. Groups of people stand on the bridge looking out at the destruction. A tag stuck to photo states that "apparently fire or flood" occurred - it was definitely a fire.

Provenance

Found in collections. The 1901 fire was the first of a series of fires that burned significant parts of Gresham between 1901 and 1914 - the strong east wind, the trees surrounding the city, and the frequency of wooden frame construction (which provides a greater surface area for fires to spread) in the downtown area all contributed to the destruction caused by the fires. This particular fire started on the second story of D.W. Metzger's shop, and burned Shattuck Bros. Mercantile (which housed the only telephone in the area), Fisher's bike shop, a barber shop, the town's entire winter grain supply, and a number of other buildings. The newly built schoolhouse and the Gresham Hotel narrowly escaped destruction, although the hotel would burn in another significant fire in 1903.

Date

10/1/1901

Subject

Fire

Disasters

Natural disasters

Downtown Gresham

Location

Gresham, Multnomah County, Oregon, United States

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/

Identifier

ghs0548

Contributor

Gresham Historical Society

Extent

Print, Photographic

Type

StillImage

Item sets

Gresham Heritage