Lowell, MA Memorial Hall Library Fire, Mar 1915

Lowell Loses Memorial Hall.

$100,000 Fire in Lowell

Fire started at noon yesterday in the Memorial Hall Building, Lowell. A geenral[sic] alarm called out every piece of fire fighting apparatus in the city, but the building was almost wholly destroyed despite the efforts of the firemen. Three firemen were painfully cut by falling slates when the roof fell in, the damage is estimated at $100,000.

Memorial Hall was built twenty-two years ago at a cost of $150,000, exclusive of furnishings. The top floor of the three-story building, which was built of granite, was used as a headquarters and museum by the Grand Army and the Spanish War Veterans. In the museum were the flags of the famous Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, which was mobbed while on its way through Baltimore enroute to the Civil War battlefields. The uniforms worn by the first two men to be killed in the war were also stored there. The Public Library, on the second floor, was considered one of the best in the State. More than 100,000 books were destroyed.

Boston Morning Journal, Boston, MA 2 Mar 1915

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Tattered battle flags of the famous Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, priceless books and rare paintings were destroyed when this beautiful structure burned yesterday. It was erected in 1893 as a memorial to the soldiers and sailors of Lowell who lost their lives in the Civil War. It cost $175,000 and contained the Public Library, Memorial Hall and headquarters of the G. A. R. and other patriotic orders.

Boston Morning Journal, Boston, MA 2 Mar 1915
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Transcribed by Linda Horton. Thank you, Linda!