BROOKVILLE — One of the most disastrous fires in the history of Brookville occurred in December 1903. It destroyed a large section of the business center of the village (northeast corner of Market & Mulberry Streets).

The drug store of Sanford & Marshall, the weekly newspaper plant of the Brookville Star, A.A. Creager’s barber shop, the post office, J.F. Wells & Co’s general store, and the vehicles and agricultural house of Spitler & Spitler were entirely gutted. A heavy loss was sustained.

The fire originated in the rear of the drug store, where a wall paper department was located. Joseph Merritt, a barber happened to see the blaze about 11 o’clock at night. Mr. Merritt spread the alarm. He and others brought buckets and broke in a window. This had the effect of fanning the flames and they began to spread at an alarming rate.

A general alarm called out the residents of the town. There was no fire department in the town, but when an alarm was called out, a bucket line started working to fight the fire. Had it not been for that, a far greater loss would have been sustained. The fire was cut off in the middle of a frame building several doors west of where it started. One half of the building was burned and the other half was saved.

Upstairs and above the drug store, was the plant of William Coons, the editor and publisher of the Brookville Star which went up in smoke. All of his type and his entire outfit were lost. The fixtures in the barber shop were removed in time to save them. The fixtures at the post office were also saved. Postmaster James Medford succeeded in saving all the United States Mail in the office along with the postage stamps.

At Wells’ grocery the spectators assisted in carrying things out into the street and about half of the stock was saved. The vehicle and agricultural implement store of Spitler & Spitler was the last one on the east that was scorched. It was the store where the progress of the fire was finally checked.

All of the burned buildings belonged to Sanford & Marshall excepting the one occupied by the Spitlers, Jacob and Charles. The fixtures in the post office also belonged to the drug store firm. The drug store firm estimated their loss at $9,500. They had total insurance of $5,400 leaving them with a loss of $4,100.

Sanford and Marshall stated that they would immediately start building a fine brick structure (shown in the picture). The firm of Spitler & Spitler also proceeded to rebuild a two story building.

All information and the photo for this Look at Brookville article were supplied by the Brookville Historical Society. Do you have a photo or historical information to share or add? Please contact the Brookville Historical Society at 937-833-0285 or email to [email protected].