SRHS
Steamboat Rock Historical Society
WORLD WAR...AND THE GREAT DEPRESSION
THE FIRE OF 1926
A look at Market Street in Steamboat Rock prior to the fire of 1926,
In 1926 a fire destroyed nearly one fourth of the business on Market Street in Steamboat Rock. Seven businesses were swept away before it could be stopped. The fire took all of the buildings on the south side of the street on the east end of the Market Street business district. The buildings and most of their contents were completely lost.
Headlines in the Eldora Herald the following Friday announced: “BIG FIRE AT STEAMBOAT ROCK….EARLY MORNING BLAZE WIPES OUT SOUTH SIDE OF MAIN STREET.” The fire was discovered about one o’clock in the morning on July 25, 1926. Mrs. Angie Gellhorn was the first to notice smoke coming from the business section of the town from her home on Main Street, a block away. She gave the alarm, and phone calls were made to Eldora, Union, Wellsburg, and Ackley.
The Eldora fire department arrived nearly as soon as the men of Steamboat Rock did but because there was no city water system and because their hose was not long enough to reach the river, they were only able to use chemicals to force water from a small tank to which men carried water by the bucket full. Water was carried by from the Frank Frederickson home across the street (next to the Presbyterian Church). The water was drawn from the cistern. The town pumps on Market Street were also used. The fire wagon tank was then emptied in three minutes so it was of avail only in saving the hotel and stopping the spread of the fire.
The Union fire department made the run in about 20 minutes, so they must have been stepping on the gas. Wellsburg arrived last, and it was discovered that they alone had enough hose to reach the river. If they had been called sooner perhaps more of the businesses could have been saved.
The buildings that were destroyed by the fire included the D.J. Harris Restaurant which was a complete loss. It was here that the fire had started. Harris had no insurance. The Harris Barber Shop, next door was also a complete loss. D.J. Harris also owned this business and again had no insurance protection.
The drugstore that had recently been purchased by John Eilers was also a complete loss. Chet Reed owned the building. John Eilers was the only merchant who carried sufficient insurance to keep from suffering a complete loss. The building and contents were insured for $5000.
The pool hall was not leased and operating at the time of the fire but the fixtures and building were completely destroyed in the fire.
The meat market owned by Tom Ruppelt also burned to the ground but nearly all of the fixtures were saved. The meat market moved into the Legion Hall and began conducting business the day after the fire.
The boxes, mail and fixtures from the Post Office were also saved and were temporarily set up in the east wing of the hotel.
The building that housed the Post Office was a two story stone structure that had been built shortly after the town was platted. It was given much of the credit for preventing the fire from spreading to the hotel which was the next building to the west.
On the east end of the block was a garage building owned by Elda Christians which was operated by John Frerksen. This was an implement and auto dealership and fortunately all of the cars and machinery were driven out before the building burned to the ground. Mrs. Angie Gellhorn, who had never driven a car was given credit for driving several vehicles from the burning building.
For a while it was thought that the fire might spread to the businesses (blacksmith shop etc.) south of the fire. The women worked to get things out of the building while the men fought the fire. Once the buildings that were in immediate danger had their fixtures removed, they began to do the same at the blacksmith shop owned by Bill Hartman. The ladies carried everything across the street to the school yard.
The next morning it took six men and a team of horses to get the anvil back into the blacksmith shop.
How the ladies got it out is not known to this day. Needless to say it could have remained because it would not have burned even if the fire had reached it.
The loss of this block of business houses was a blow to Steamboat Rock. It was a tragedy the small town would not soon forget.
The next day 40 men cleared the debris and began making the town presentable under the circumstances.
The community immediately began to rebuild, and one of the first businesses that rose from the ashes was a new creamery. The last creamery in the community had been destroyed by fire six years earlier in 1920. Now a brick building was erected on the south side of Market Street on a lot made vacant by the fire.