On this day. . .1888-Sometime after 1 o’clock in the afternoon a fire started in a large frame stable at the Harrisburg Stock Yards. The location of the yards was along the Pennsylvania Railroad above Maclay Street, east of Seventh. Locomotive whistles were quickly yanked in short blasts and word was rapidly passed to the Pennsylvania Railroad Shops in the vicinity of Seventh and Verbeke were Box 23 was struck at 1:35 p.m. The fire spread rapidly and soon the large stable was fully engulfed in flames. The building, nine horses and thirty tons of hay along with the Pennsylvania Railroad car inspectors building and contents were destroyed. Decker’s boarding house, Smith’s hotel and several other frame buildings were also set on fire by sparks and flying embers and damaged considerably. This fire got near conflagration proportions and was very spectacular. The stable was owned by J. C. Bomgardner; hay by M.M. Grove and horses by I.S. Merbach of New York City. Loss was listed at $5,000. (This property was actually in Susquehanna Township. The area from Maclay to Division Streets not annexed to the city until 1895)
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 10:28:56 +0000