WESTERN HOUSE BURNED.

This hotel, belonging to Mr. Thomas Barden, of Waseca, was discovered to be afire about 5.30 o’clock a. m., April 12 [1872], and in a very short time the hotel and the barn belonging to it were entirely consumed. As at that time Waseca had no water supply and no fire company, it was almost a miracle that the dwelling house of Mr. G. W. Watkins and the store and barn of Dr. Brubaker, near by, were saved from destruction, by the efforts of citizens. The wind was blowing a heavy gale at the time and had it not been for the drenching rain of the previous evening, no doubt the fire would have destroyed a large amount of property. The burned property was insured for $2,200.

Child's history of Waseca County, Minnesota : from its first settlement in 1854 to the close of the year 1904 ; a record of fifty years : the story of the pioneers, Owatonna, Minn.: Press of the Owatonna Chronicle, 1905, page 250
__________________