In the early morning hours of 3 November 1924, a disastrous fire swept through the center of Gratz, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The perfect storm of the failure of the borough council to approve the establishment of a water department or an organized fire department coupled with high winds, led to the spread of the fire across a street and alleys. The result was the leveling of the town center.
The Lykens Standard of 7 November 1924 featured a photo on its front page which showed some of the destruction. Unfortunately, the print quality is not good. If any reader has access to a better copy of the Lykens Standard photo or other photos that have not been previously published here on this blog, digital copies can be submitted by e-mail for publication, with full credit given to the contributor.
The caption on the Lykens Standard photo:
The above picture shows in part the ruins of Harry Smith’s hall, restaurant and movie theatre, the center of Gratz’s activity and head quarters of the town’s more prominent citizens. Mr. Smith had tried to get fire protection for the town, but was refused aid, he said, Tuesday.
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Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.
The news story was obtained through the resources of Newspapers.com.