St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-08-18
AN()KA
AuN[HILA4E Ed !!
A Sweeping Sea of Deyouring
Flame
Wipes Out of Existence the
Unfortunate City.
Not a Business Block Left in
the Place.
Six Blocks Burned Over and 69
Buildings Destroyed.
The Great Lincoln Mill Goes
Down in the Ruin.
Washburn's Loss $25O,0OO and
Insurance S144, 900.
The Total Loss Approximating Mil
lion, With Only One Quarter
Insurance.
The Total Loss Approximating a Mil
lion, With Only One Quarter
Insurance.
Details of the Disaster and Lists OF
Insurance as Far as At
tainable.

Never before in the history of this state
has such dire calamity fallen upon any city
or town as the one that on Saturday morn
ing spread ruin and desolation over the once
lourishing city of Anoka. Friday its bust
less men retired for the night prosperous
and happy, and on Saturday awoke to find
every vestige of the business portion of their
city in ashes, and many of themselves
beggars. Never has such sudden transi-
ton from comfort and prosperity to dire
distress and ruin been witnessed within the
borders of our commonwealth and it is no
wonder that her business men were found
paralyzed amid the ashes of their former
business blocks unable to rally at the moment
from the overwhelming calamity that had
fallen upon them. Not one store, not one
place of business remains upon the
site of this mte fourshing city.
Its stores, banks, newspaper offices
the great Lincoln Touring mill, the Anoka
Touring mill, the large planning mills, dry
akilns, lumber sheds, machine shops and
other buildings of the w. D. Washburn
company are all gone entirely, utterly OBJ
liberated, and not so much as one brick left
standing upon another that will ever be fit
for use as part of a new structure
No wonder that the stoutest hearts quailed,
and when in addition to this wholesale de-
struction of property we come to understand
that outside of the w. D. Washburn com
pany, but small percentage of the
property destroyed was insured, the feelings
of the sufferers can well be imagined.
Anoka was one Of the oldest cities in the
state, and contains to-day about six thous-
and people. 1t is located upon both banks
OF the Rum river, about one half mile from
its junction with the Mississippi, and %
miles by rail from st. Paul on the Northern
Pacific r, r. and Fergus Falls division of the
Manitoba rail road. The eastern side of the
river contained nearly all the business of the
city, and few cities Of Minnesota con
tanned more fine or substantial buildings than
did Anoka prior to the fire. The fine new
Opera House block of w. d. Washburn upon
Main and Second avenue of st. Louis
story brick upon the opposite diagonal corner
recently built by II. L. Tcknor, and more
than the usual proportion of fine two story
brick stores gave the city an air of soidity
that was sadly at variauce with the havoc
which one sudden breath of the fire king
wrought. Years were required to build it,
but three short hours worked its utter ruin.
The story of its ruin is soon told. At
about 2:20 Saturday morning fire was dis
covered under the floor of the skating rink,
located in the rear of the postoffice, on Sec
ond avenue, and also in the wood house add
jacent belonging to the school building, on
the corner of Second avenue and Monroe
street. The alarm was promptly given and
the steamer hose carts and entire fire de-
partment of the city were soon upon the
ground.
From the very first, however, they were
powerless to suppress the flames or even to
hold them in check. The rink, nam moth
wooden structure, seemed to be a mass of
flame in a moment, and the adjacent build
ings caught like gunpowder. Soon the en-
tire portion of the business blocks son both
Main and Second avenue were on fire and
rising like monster the remorse-
less, relentless FIRE fend towering
high in air leaped over intervening streets
and threw down all opposing barriers in his
determined effort to get at his prey. Second
avenue aud Main street were crossed in
this way at about the same moment, and in
an incredibly short space of time Center
block, containing the fine Opera house
building, First National bank and
other fine buildings were mass
of seething flame. With Center
block bathed in flame the doom OF the NAM
moth Lincoln roller mill, a vast wooden
structure just across the street from the
northwest corner of the block, was sealed
and soon that too was in the tolls of the raw
snous monster.
The scene ut this time was full of an awful
sublimity and grandeur that filed the stout
est hearts with awe and terror The
horrible roar of the flames, the
crash of falling buildings, the
hoarSe shouts of frantic men and the lurid
sheets of fire that filed the air aud lowered
mountain high, lighting up the scene for
miles around, all formed Il scene never to be
torgotten,if once witnessed.
The department, utterly paralyzed, turned
their attention TO checking the spread of the
flames toward the south--that were creeping
along the river hauk-and were finally sue.
eessful, aided by southerly wind. The school
house on the corner of Second avenue and
Munroe street, being isolated . little from
other buildings. wss saved though badly
scorehed. Across the street the Merchants
hotel aud small dwelling with it, were with
almost henculean effort also saved. Tue
north side of the block bounded BIZ River