Thursday, November 14, 2024

Drummond Was On Fire

 

July 17, 1917 about 10 o’clock in the evening a $100,000 fire destroyed a large part of the business section in Drummond. “According to citizens of Drummond, the fire started between the Headquarter Saloon and Wells Brothers’ place and made such rapid headway that nothing was saved. Nearly the entire contents of the buildings with the exception of a few personal belongings was burned. The buildings destroyed were those occupied by the Faust-Bassett Mercantile Company, Asa Jenkin’s Lunch counter, Maurice James Saloon, Wells Brothers’ Saloon, H. Whitworth’s Saloon, Tong Ching’s Restaurant, Pat Clavin’s Saloon, Tim Hanifen’s Barber Shop, The J.H. Shannon Hotel, and Jens Madesen’s grocery; two buildings owned by Fred Howell were destroyed and one owned by Ambrose Alix was also burned. 

When the entire town seemed to be threatened a call for help was sent to Deer Lodge and Mayor Frank Conley with a crew of fifty men and fire fighting apparatus left for Drummond on a special train. The post office equipment and supplies, located in the rear of the Faust-Bassett Mercantile were saved and the office was open for business in the Pioneer Drug Store the next morning. 

Wednesday’s Missoulian has the following account of the conflagration: "Fire originating in a saloon destroyed the entire business section of Drummond. Kenneth Wilson, assistant cashier at the Drummond Bank was injured while trying to remove some furniture from a building (apparently a timber fell on him)…Lack of proper fire fighting equipment is given as the principal reason for the loss. The city offered only a small hose cart and this proved to be worthless and word was sent to Missoula for a fire engine of the Northern Pacific Railroad. By the time the fire engine arrived the fire had gotten beyond control. To prevent the fire from spreading to the residence section of the town, large quantities of dynamite were used to blow up a row of small shacks in the rear of the business district. It was thought for a time that the Northern Pacific depot, which lies across the street would be destroyed and more than 100,000 gallons of gasoline was removed from the building by citizens and N.P. workmen…” 

The 1985 edition of Philipsburg Territory has a picture of downtown Drummond and stated that “the original buildings in this photo were constructed before the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1890. The buildings are listed from left to right as Morse General Store, Roche Hotel, Hanifen Barber Shop, Pat Clavin’s Saloon, Chinese Restaurant and Rooms, Headquarters Saloon, Maurice James’ Saloon, Plummer’s Saloon and Featherman’s Store. This entire block on Front Street burned in 1917 and again about four years later. On the next block only the Palace Hotel and Turf Bar remain as evidence of the early days. There are many old buildings remaining in Drummond. Among them are the Community Hall, which was built by Plummer Royal prior to 1905 and was used as a roller skating rink with an ice cream parlor attached; the old grade school; the Catholic Church and Methodist Church. An old log barn near the Post Office was used to keep horses for the freight line between Drummond and Helmville. Clark Smith’s Realtor Office, which was built in 1895 by two sisters as a millinery shop, is almost in its original condition [the article did not name the sisters]. The old Milwaukee Depot which was built about 1908 was moved in 1982 to Fort Missoula for restoration.” 

The fire of July 17, 1917 must be the one Hugh Cumming refers to in his dairy entry for July 21 stating “Trying to save my diary, so much of it was lost in the fire.”

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