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mig IAT SP tres 14 - PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, October 1, 1991 HITT HH HH HH NTH A TE erm re, 125th ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE Brave men flew to the rescue NORTH ONTARIO OBSERVER Thursday, Dec. 20, 1883 The Port Perry of today has certainly no inviting appear- ance, a large number of its fin- est structures having been laid waste by an irrepressible con- flagration, these are now only represented by sickening heaps of ashes and piles of broken brick. The fiend made his ap- pearance somewhere in the rear of the Port Perry House on November 26, 1883, and fanned by a powerful blast from the east, succeeded within three hours from its first appearance in wiping out at least one-third of the business portion of the town and causing devastation and havoc in every direction, consuming property to the val- ue of $125,000 and leaving a blank of about $80,000 on the assessment roll. Active and brave men flew to the rescue; our vigilent fire brigade were soon on hand, but had to contend against fearful odds. The poet says: "Thrice is he armed who has his quarrel just," but our worthy firemen were not once armed against such a foe, a common syringe is scarcely the thing against a mountain of flame; but all did their best and deserve thanks for their efforts. Some of the camp followers kept at a respectful and safe distance throughout and were so anxious for the safety of the more valuable portions of the goods that they carried off to such distances that their own- ers have not yet been able to re- cover them; even horses and wagons were engaged in the pious {7} work. The morning after the dev- astation, the hearts of the peo- ple quaked in gazing on the ruins, and many disconsolate one uttered dark for-bodings of the future of the town. But these birds of ill-omen had reck- oned without their host, they did not take into account the daring enterprise of the owners of the property. Ere the smoke of the embers ceased W.B. McGaw, the active and energet- ic proprietor of the now obliter- ated but well-known Walker House, was seen passing over the ruins and ordering immedi- ate removal of the bricks and rubbish with a view to rebuild- ing on a more magnificent scale, and in order to secure still more extended frontage, he paid Mr. A. Ross $1000 for some 24 feet adjoining his (Mr. McGaw's} property to the east. Mr. Blong, the active and Liberal proprietor of the splen- did Hotel Brunswick, now a heap of ruins, has also ordered the removal of the ruins of his famous structure in order to the erection at as early a day as pos- sible of new premises still more magnificent and costly than those destroyed. Mr. Ruddy, the worthy host of the Port Perry House now a victim of the flames, of- fers to purchase the site of the destroyed hotel from Mr. Thompson, with a view to the erection of another fine note; if he can't secure that, he propos- es building on Mr. Charles' lot on the opposite side of the street. Messrs. Diesfield, Hiscox and Worthington are all expect- ed to rebuild so that ere the close of 1884, the fearful gap made by the unsparing devour- er will be filed up to advantage and the Port Perry of that day will be better than ever. In the meantime, the fugi- These two find buildings, pre fire of 1884, housed the On- tario Bank and the Brown and Ross store. The site is now oc- cupied by Brock's Department store. This photo was taken prior to the fire of 1884 which destroyed the entire business section of Port Perry. From left, stores owned by C. Currie (now location of Lawrence Pharmacy), Parrish Hardware (Lukes Country Store) and Jones Brothers (Victorian Card shop). Bylaw forbids erection of wooden buildings tives driven out by the flames have found shelter as best they could awaiting the erection of their new premises. Mr. Blong has rented and comfortably fitted up the house belonging to Mr. Thomas Gra- ham opposite the railway sta- tion where every attention is given to comfort and conven- ience of guests and the table and bar supplied with the choice of the market. Mr. Ruddy has leased and fitted up Mr. D. Ireland's prem- ises {the old Queen's Hotel} where good and convenient ac- commodation is furnished to all comers. Mr. Laing and Meharry had to take refuge in the store they lately occupied on the op- posite side of the street; but finding it much too small for their business, they have built alarge addition behind. Diesfield's watch, clock and jewellery establishment has been moved to the north side of Queen Street, opposite the Observer Office. Don't fail to call and see their choice stock of "everything desirable" in the line. Mr. Charles has moved his grocery and liquor business into the premises one door east of the Barber Shop. The perservering and thor- oughly active firm of Curts and Henderson lost no time in se- curing a lease of an important portion of the market building where they have fitted up in perfect business style one of the most convenient flour, feed and general produce establish- ments anywhere to be found; they are now rushing the busi- ness. The Griffith Stove and Tin- ware business has got snugly located on the west side of Perry Street, they too have pressing business with energy. Mr. Vansickler, one of our enterprising Livery proprietors has established his livery es- tablishment in part of the Man- sion House stables, and is now prepared to furnish rigs for all. Mr. McKenzie has moved his business to the Leonard Block opposite the Market. Mr. S. Graham has re- moved his Blacksmithing es- tablishment to the rear of his late premises and is now in full blast in a well appointed new establishment and prepared to execute all orders on short no- tice and to the satisfaction of customers. 'From Page 13 on fire. Men would climb on the roofs and sweep off the sparks as they fell. This method seems to have been very effective. : At that time Leonard Bur- nett was farming near Green- bank, and on the morning after the fire he found in his field large numbers of partially burned billheads, belonging to Jones Bros. The wind had evi- dently carried them there dur- ing the night. : Village people were in most helpless circumstances immediately after the fire until supplies came in on the train. Farmers who drove in to see the ruins found the townspeople without bread, and hurried back home where their wives were soon busy baking. Ener- getic business men naturally turned their attention to put- ting up temporary places of IVES { FLORIST GC ¥ $ ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES in the Grand Trunk Railway Station 166 Water St. Port Perry 985-2525 business, but they were power- less to act at once for there was not a pound of nails to be had, and hammers and saws were very scarce. A public meeting was held in the town hall, where the whole situation was discussed, and a by-law passed forbidding the erection of wooden build- ings within the business area. The building regulations also required that the stores have a uniform line of frontage. Previ- ously the buildings had been erected in such position on the lot as suited the fancy of the owner. The result was that the street had a very irregular ap- pearance. The new plan did away with all this, and now, as may be seen the stores line up uni- formly, and very few places of the size of Port Perry make such a creditable showing in their business section. 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