Hyde Park, VT Fire, Apr 1910

VERMONT

BAD FIRE AT HYDE PARK.

Jail, Court-House, Town Hall, Church, Store and Residence Reduced to Ashes.

A fire that started in the county jail at Hyde Park yesterday spread until the jail, court-house, town hall, Congregational church, one store and 13 residences or tenements had been laid to ashes. Twenty families are homeless. The damage is estimated at $100,000. Originating presumably from a defective stovepipe between the first and second stories of the jail, the fire gained headway so rapidly that efforts to save the building were soon seen to be useless and attention was directed to endangered neighboring structures. The two prisoners, both minor offenders whom the jail held, were released, and with a will they turned to fight the flames. help was summoned from Morristown, Johnson and Stowe, all of which sent their entire fire-fighting forces to aid. Their combined efforts, however, could not prevent the spread of the flames for several hours. When finally under control an area half a mile long on the main street had been swept by the fire. Hyde Park is the seat of Lamoille county.

The records of the county and of the probate court are in a vault in the court-house, and their condition is unknown. It is believed, however, that they will be found unharmed. The town records were not damaged, as they were not in the town hall but at the residence of the town clerk, some distance away. The residences of County Clerk S. B. Lauite, L. R. Fairbanks, George Parker, H. M. McFarland, A. Lilley, J. T. Stevens, Probate Judge E. C. White, George Eastman, Noyes G. Wood, and Daniel Smith and the store of Ferdinand Gauthier were among the buildings burned.

Springfield Republican, Springfield, MA 18 Apr 1910
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Transcribed by Linda Horton. Thank you, Linda!