Many descriptions of the Great Gratz Fire of November 4, 1924, have been published – including the accounts of newspapers of the local area and region and summaries of the fire written specially for local histories.
It is believed that the fire began behind the Union House on the southeast corner of Center Street and Market Street. When it was finally extinguished, it appeared to have taken out half of the main square of the town – at least ten buildings burned to the ground!
The account that follows here was written by Myrtle Koppenhaver, a Gratz resident who witnessed the fire.
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The fire of 1924 is one thing I never forgot. We lived one square up from the hotel and at times we thought of getting out of town, and going to the farm where my parents lived. We thought the whole town would go up in flames. The flames continued to jump from one building to another, and it looked as though they would never stop.
We were awakened from sleep by somebody yelling “Help, help, fire, fire!” We went to the front door, and the street was full of smoke! By the time we were dressed, it was red with flames, and people were running down town. Pat Wise came running with a bucket to carry water, and he called to us “We must try to stop it!” But the heat of the fire was so intense that they could not pour water on it.
The fire had started in a building known as the ice house. Ice was stored in sawdust in this building for the use of the hotel business because there were no freezers in those days. The ice house was located between the hotel and the barn. The fire soon spread to the large barn where the hotel management kept horses of their own, and boarded the horses of guests. The barn had a large supply of straw and hay to feed and bed the horses. While the barns were burning, the sky was red with sparks from the hay and straw, and when those sparks fell on shingles (especially wood type), the roofs caught fire.
At one point our neighbor, Addie Weaver, mother of Jennie Clark, came to our door and told us that our roof was smoking – we had the wooden shingles. She remined us of the opening on our roof that had been made for easy access to the rood, and she offered to help us carry water up there. Koppy put a step ladder at the opening, and using a smaller dipper, he was able to pour the water that we carried to him, onto the smoking area and saved the rood. As he stood up there he could see that the roof on Dan Knorr‘s house was burning. So we all went over and poured water on the roof, and saved that building. We walked to the front street, and just then looking up the alley noticed that the flames were rising from the Hepler barn. We lived across the street from George Adams‘ garage (now [1987] Paul Adams’) and the fire fighters were sure at this point that they could not stop the fire because it was traveling so fast. By daylight, five fire trucks arrived, but the only available water was from private wells. The trucks worked from one well to the next using hoses to get the water. Our well was also used.
We, with the help of our neighbors kept drawing water, and filled all the available buckets, even our wash boilers. The people who lived down on the square had no water until late the next day, so they came to us for clean water to drink.
During the early morning hours when it was still dark, everyone was taking their furniture across the street to safety. While this was going on a lady was calling, “Somebody take my baby.” This lady lived aside of the Umholtz Barber Shop. When we heard her call, Koppy thought I should get the baby since I also had Betty who was four months old. When In got the baby, I found it and its bottle wrapped in a quilt because the mother could not find its clothing. When I got to our house, I made milk war, and he was soon asleep. later on I found out he was the same age as Betty. By daylight in the morning, the mother walked along the houses looking until she found her baby.
Before the came, I had put the go-cart out on the porch planning to go down to the square to see what was going on. Annie Adams came out and when she heard my plans she told me that it wasn’t safe to take the babies down there as the sparks were falling on the furniture, and they could also start a fire in the go-cart and burn the babies. So I stayed at home.
Then came the time to make breakfast for the firemen! Koppy had come home and ask if I would make breakfast for some of the men. I had canned sausage. These were men that Koppy knew from working in the mines. They had come with the fire truck from Lykens and did a very good job of helping with the fire. About nine o’clock in the morning, Koppy’s mother came and helped me, as some men came only for a cup of coffee. I had cookies so we treated them as best we could, in appreciation for their work.
And then we walked down to see… and Oh, my!…. I saw the Smith’s building was gone – that was the only thing of entertainment and music in Gratz besides the Fair. And all the barns and homes… in such a short time. It was a miracle that they got the fire stopped. The last fire truck came filled with water, and that is what finally controlled it.
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From Memories, Volume 2, Gratz Historical Society, 1987.
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