|
 Origin of the Paris Fire of 1916
N 33° 39.031 W 095° 33.601
15S E 262594 N 3726346
Texas Historical Marker along the Trail de Paris section of the Northeast Texas Trail, near the corner of 4th St SW and W Hearne Ave, Paris, TX, noting this as the general area of where the Paris Fire of 1916 got started.
Waymark Code: WMYR58
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 07/15/2018
Views: 3
Marker Number: 18466
Marker Text:
On March 21, 1916, a fire swept through Paris that consumed 264 acres and 1,440 buildings and killed three people. Property loss was estimated at $11 million. Paris was founded in the mid-1840s, and many of the town's historic structures were lost in the fire including the Federal Building and Post Office, the Lamar County Courthouse and Jail, City Hall, numerous commercial buildings and several churches. Substantial rainfall in Paris last occurred 51 days prior, and winds gusting up to 60 mph that day likely contributed to the city's dryness.
Although no one is certain how the fire started, it is known that there was a small trash fire burning near Sid Long's timber warehouse on SW 4th Street and Frisco Avenue, and an alarm was sounded at 5:30 P.M. The high winds quickly set fire to roof shingles in the surrounding blocks. Mayor Ed H. McCuistion sent out appeals to nearby fire departments after he decied that widespread conflagration was imminent. Bonham, Cooper, Dallas, Honey Grove and Hugo, Oklahoma, answered the call, and the fire was under control by 3:30 A.M.
Chamber president Henry P. Mayer prepared a sign for a meeting the following day that simply read "Smile." The slogan was adopted quickly and encouraged residents to rebuild the city with optimism. The Civic League, which had organized just two days before, shifted its focus from beautification to sanitation because the fire left many residents living in tents and shacks. Paris was reconstructed quickly with the help of out of town architects, local builders and citizens. Paris' reconstruction produced one of the best examples of architectural integrity and geographically-concentrated post-Victorian buildings in the United States. (2016)
Marker is Property of the State of Texas
|
Visit Instructions:
Please include a picture in your log. You and your GPS receiver do not need to be in the picture. We encourage additional information about your visit (comments about the surrounding area, how you ended up near the marker, etc.) in the log.
Recent Visits/Logs:
| There are no logs for this waymark yet. |
|
|
|
|