Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1909-02-12
cHARLoTTEsv1LLE's BIG FIRE.
$3.50, 900 Loss-MosT DISASTROUS FIRE
IN YEARS-BIG BUSINESS HOUSES
BURNED-IT LOOKED AT ONE
TIME IF WHOLE BUSINESS

| IN YEARS-B1G BUSlN ESS HOUSES
BURNED-IT LOOKED AT ONE
TIME IF WHOLE BUSINESS
SECTION WOULD GO.
| The most destructive fire that has &C.
CURED in Charlottesville, excluding of
course the disaster to the University in
1895, began in the early hours of Friday
morning and by o'clock had destroy
ed property to the value of $3.50, 900.
The fire began in the large store
house of the Charlottesville Hardware
Company, on East Main street, between
Third and Fourth, and rapidly spread
until the Gilmore Furniture Company
and the Peoples National Bank, on
the east, and q vacant storeroom, the
clothing establishment of ]. B. and w.
H. Wood and the shoe store of James
N. Waddelf, on the west, were in ruins.
This was not by any means all the
damage done. Fortunately the wealth
er was perfectly calm.
The heat was intense, and the build
ings across the street were constantly
taking fire. The entablature and roof
of the old bank building, on the corner
of Main and Fourth streets, were more
than once afire. The front Of Wills
drug store, which occupies the ground
floor of this structure, was damaged, as
were the fronts to the storerooms occu-
pied by J. Dean Tilman dry goods; the
Albemarle Grocery Company, Eddings
& Irving, shoe dealers, and J. G. Matth-
ews, confectioAer. Nothing but the
fine discipline and management Of the
fire department saved this section Of the
city from destruction. Other sections
were endangered by the drifting of
sparks and burning fragments, some Of
which were carried great distances.
No estimate has been made Of the
damage to storerooms on the opposite
side of Main street nor fixtures any,
where except in the Peoples National
Bank.
The following business firms were
burnt out in the Peoples National
Bank Building: The Peoples National
Bank, the Charlottesville Perpetual
Building and Loan Company and the
Interstate Commercial School, con-
Quoted by Mr.. Peyton Brown, late OF
Washington.
The Peoples National Bank has al
ready resumed business in rooms in the
old bank building just across Main
street. The vault in the destroyed
building is in perfect shape. The Char
louisville Perpetual Building and Loan
Company, occupying the second floor
of the bank building, safely removed
all books and papers, among the latter
being valuable Masonic records. The
Gilmore Furniture Company goes also
to the old bank building, and all other
firms driven out by the fire will prob
ably find business stands.
The Gilmore Furniture Company is
an incorporated institution, in which
Messrs. Charles H. Walker, 7. E. Pow
ers, Willard A. Irving, J. A. Gilmore
and DR.. Halstead Hodges, OF Char
lottesville, and w. M. Gilmore, of Rich
mond, Va, are the stockholders.
The Charlottesville Hardware Com
pany recently succeeded the Walker
Carroll-Adams Hardware Company.
At it's head is Mr.. Charles III. Walker,
city treasurer and capitalist. Mr.. j.
Payne Carroll is vice-president and
general manager and Mr.. A. N. Adams
treasurer. Others connected with the
firm are Messrs. Julian Carroll and r.
F. Vowel.