“…the fire started on December 2, 1918, which destroyed the buildings on the waterfront, swept away the fish wharves, the cold storage plant, a restaurant and several small buildings. J. L. Stanley and Sons were heavy losers in this fire.” - “Traditions and Records of Southwest Harbor and Somesville, Mount Desert Island, Maine” by Mrs. Seth S. Thornton, 1938, p. 186-7.
Description: “…the fire started on December 2, 1918, which destroyed the buildings on the waterfront, swept away the fish wharves, the cold storage plant, a restaurant and several small buildings. J. L. Stanley and Sons were heavy losers in this fire.” - “Traditions and Records of Southwest Harbor and Somesville, Mount Desert Island, Maine” by Mrs. Seth S. Thornton, 1938, p. 186-7.
Main Street in Southwest Harbor was devastated by fire on March 27, 1922. Newspaper accounts of the fire reported estimated losses of $150,000 and that the Southwest Harbor Volunteer Fire Company, “did remarkable work, considering the limited equipment with which they had to work.” Bar Harbor and Northeast Harbor firemen also responded, but the roads were considerably different from today and it took the Bar Harbor department, “four hours over difficult spring roads.” Apparently their “combination truck…was making some 40 miles an hour near Burns’ Corner when it was stuck in a bad hole in the muddy road” and “between Somesville and Southwest they were mired time after time and horses that were sent to assist them…had to drag the big steamer” [weighing almost six tons] out of the holes in the road. In spite of these delays the truck arrived finally…in about three hours, too late to do any good. “Had the roads been in anything like fair condition it is the unanimous opinion that the truck from Bar Harbor would have been able to save the Odd Fellows building.”
Description: Main Street in Southwest Harbor was devastated by fire on March 27, 1922. Newspaper accounts of the fire reported estimated losses of $150,000 and that the Southwest Harbor Volunteer Fire Company, “did remarkable work, considering the limited equipment with which they had to work.” Bar Harbor and Northeast Harbor firemen also responded, but the roads were considerably different from today and it took the Bar Harbor department, “four hours over difficult spring roads.” Apparently their “combination truck…was making some 40 miles an hour near Burns’ Corner when it was stuck in a bad hole in the muddy road” and “between Somesville and Southwest they were mired time after time and horses that were sent to assist them…had to drag the big steamer” [weighing almost six tons] out of the holes in the road. In spite of these delays the truck arrived finally…in about three hours, too late to do any good. “Had the roads been in anything like fair condition it is the unanimous opinion that the truck from Bar Harbor would have been able to save the Odd Fellows building.” [show more]
Shows the Freezer Plant after fire from J.L. Stanley Wharf. View is from the southwest at low tide on 1/16/19. The fire occurred on 12/02/1918. The prominent house is still there.The ice sluiceway is visible at right as is part of the Ocean View Hotel in the distance.
Description: Shows the Freezer Plant after fire from J.L. Stanley Wharf. View is from the southwest at low tide on 1/16/19. The fire occurred on 12/02/1918. The prominent house is still there.The ice sluiceway is visible at right as is part of the Ocean View Hotel in the distance.
The Hall had been badly damaged in the 1922 fire and rebuilt, but the 1939 fire destroyed it. The Park Theater then on the corner across Clark Point Road is visible on the left.
Description: The Hall had been badly damaged in the 1922 fire and rebuilt, but the 1939 fire destroyed it. The Park Theater then on the corner across Clark Point Road is visible on the left.