Arenzville Fires
The Great Fire of 1913
On Christmas morning of 1913, a fire broke out in the club room in the back of Stoker's saloon, and it quickly spread to nearby buildings. At that time, Arenzville had no fire hydrants, no fire hoses, and no fire truck. They had only a chemical wagon which carried approximately 40 gallons of chemicals, far too little to combat such a big fire. Jacksonville offered to send 1,000 feet of fire hose if Arenzville could get a fire engine from Beardstown. But the water supply wasn't sufficient to be much help, so the residents were advised by the Jacksonville fire chief, J.C. Woods, to use dynamite to keep the fire from spreading.
When the fire was finally out, a large portion of the Arenzville business section had been destroyed, including Stoker's saloon, a feed barn, Hierman Brothers building, Niemann building and J.H. Wells saloon, Woods and Houston Grocery and Shoe Store, the post office, the harness shop and store of John F. Lovekamp, the Engelbach Brothers' Opera House, the grocery story of John Irving, Dr. J.M. Swope's office, the R.J. Ommen building, Brockhouse Brothers' house furnishings store, J.R. Bowling's restaurant, the Shrewsbury Notion Store, Mallicoat and Evans saloon, and H.A. Bridgeman's grocery. [information from the Jacksonville Journal news article, 1913.]
Arenzville got its first fire truck in 1922, a Ford Model T truck. In 1949, water sewers and hydrants were installed. Today, the town is protected by a well-equipped volunteer fire department, largely thanks to the dedication and leadership of the late Tim Huey.
Onken & Meyer Store
(Photo above) During the 1913 fire, the back porch of Onken Bros. & Meyer's store was torn off to save the building. The men in the photo are from left to right: John Janssen, Jim Ater, Clarence Reaugh, Gayle Hierman and Henry Brockhouse. Note the two-wheeled chemical cart. This was all the Village had to fight fires at that time. Photo courtesy of Cherie Schnake Mullen.
Great Fire of 1917
Early Morning Fire Sweeps Town of Arenzville
21 Oct 1917 – Jacksonville Daily Journal
Flames originate in Well’s Saloon – Loss Approximately $50,000
Nearly All of Business Section of West Side of City Destroyed – Seven Buildings Consumed Before the Fire was Checked – Motor Truck from Jacksonville Rushed to the Scene.
Arenzville, October 21 – Fire which started in Wells’ saloon about eleven o’clock Saturday night totally destroyed nearly all of the business section of the north side of the city and entailed a loss of approximately $50,000. The buildings and businesses occupying them were:
Wells Saloon
Hierman’s hardware store and living apartments in the second story.
Smith & Barnhart’s barber shop
Zulauf’s Meat Market
Arenzville Independent Printing office
Simon Finder’s saloon
William Nobis shoe shop
The building occupied by J. H. Wells in which the fire started is a two-story frame structure. Mr. Wells had a sleeping apartment over the saloon and it is thought that the fire started from a stove in the room. It burned so rapidly that there was little opportunity to save the stock which was almost a total loss.
Spread to Hardware Store
Flames from the Wells building spread to the Hierman hardware store next door and then to the row of frame buildings in the same block. These were occupied by Smith and Barnhart barber shop, Zulauf meat market, William Nobis shoe shop and the Arenzville Independent Printing office.
Saved Some Furniture
Mr. Hierman had his residence over the hardware store and was able to save some of his furniture but nothing was gotten out of the store. The fixtures were saved in the barber shop and Zulauf was able to get out all of his meat. The loss to his fixtures and to the fixtures and stock of the printing office and shoe shop was total. The Arenzville Independent was the last building in the block and the flames stopped there.
Finder’s Saloon Destroyed
However, before they were gotten under control they spread to the saloon of Simon Finder and destroyed the building and contents, but little of the stock being saved. A bakery stood next to the Finder saloon and a livery stable across the street and it looked for a time as if they too would burn. The fire was halted at the bakery however, and gotten under control about 1 o’clock Sunday morning.
When the fire was at its height the Nieman building across the street occupied by a picture theater on the lower floor and a residence above caught fire. By hard work the building was saved. Desperate work also saved the drug store of Hierman Brothers and the jewelry store of J. F. Thyen, both located on the south side of the street directly across from the flames.
No Fire Equipment
Arenzville has no regular fire department and its equipment consists of a chemical engine. This was of little use when the fire got started. A call for help was sent to Jacksonville an at 12:26 this (Sunday) morning Commissioner Martin, Chief Hunt with Earl Williams as the driver started for Arenzville, arriving at 1:25 o’clock. The flames were under control when they arrived.
The building occupied by Finder was owned by Hierman Brothers. Wells owned his building as did the Hiermans the one occupied as a hardware store. The buildings in which the shoe shop, printing office and meat market were located were owned by Mrs. A. L. Weeks. Mrs. L. R. Willie owned the building occupied by the barber shop.
It is understood that all of the buildings were insured, tho just what the amounts were is not known. Nothing is known of the insurance on the stocks and fixtures that were destroyed. It is understood that Mr. Zulauf carried adequate insurance on his fixtures.
Note: Tade and Hester Lovekamp's book (A Local History Collection of Arenzville, IL) describes several businesses which were destroyed in a 1917 fire in Arenzville. That fire occurred in October 1917 and started in the Wells Saloon.
A separate incident was the August 1917 fire which destroyed the Onken Bros. and Meyer store, a fire which was described as having "unknown origins." Tade and Hester state that some thought the Onken Bros & Meyer store fire was arson, related to anti-German sentiments during WW1.
Mattoon Gazette Journal, 13 Aug 1917 - this fire destroyed only the Onken Bros. & Meyer store.