TRY AS THEY MIGHT, FIRES CANNOT

DESTROY MONROE’S HISTORY

        Several weeks ago a reader reached out asking if I remembered the Aycock’s Department Store fire back in the 60’s.  How well I remembered it; I was there to witness what The Walton Tribune called “The Biggest Fire in Monroe’s History Races through Aycock Brother’s Building.”

        The fire began the night of July 5^th, 1960 shortly after 7 o’clock and was deemed under control by 10 p.m.  The cause was determined to be an explosion in the basement area. Firefighters remained on the scene until around 2:30 Wednesday morning but there were a few who stayed the entire night to make sure there were no further flames to erupt.

        My late father’s cotton office was on the second floor of the old Walton Hotel Building and as the flames shot out from all directions that Tuesday night, it was feared the flames might reach across the street and possibly damage that historic old building.  I well remember the pain in my father’s face as he stood on the corner of Broad and Court Streets watching the flames flare from the front and roof of the landmark building as speculation spread damage could easily reach across the street to the neighboring buildings. 

business district almost 50 years which housed both the      Aycock’s Store was a landmark in the Monroe department store and the grocery area of the store.   

        The damage was estimated in the multi-thousands of dollars.

        Fire fighters from Monroe, Social Circle, Winder, Loganville, Madison, Conyers, Covington and even Atlanta came to offer assistance.

        The brother’s business concerns had been operating in the present location since the early 1900’s, with the building being owned jointly by John T. and R. Earl Aycock, Sr.  The brothers operated the department store and grocery independently.

        Thinking of this large fire reminded me of the first big fire I remember as a child.  In February, 1953, Parker’s Warehouse at the corner of North Broad and Marable Street caught fire and burned to the ground and over 1,300 bales of cotton were destroyed whose value reached over three hundred thousand dollars.

        In 1956 there was a large fire which partially destroyed the Nunnally Lumber Company Building on Church Street and in 1957 a new warehouse and office complex were built on the property.

        In 1927 the new Monroe High School Building was completed on Bold Springs Avenue and on December 12, 1936 it was destroyed by a huge fire.  A new brick structure was built on the grounds in 1938.  In 1958 the high school moved to a new facility on Bryant Road and the old high school became the home of the elementary school students.

        In the early morning of November 30, 1976, another large fire erupted in the basement of the old high school building, totally destroying both floors of the building and the beloved auditorium where so many plays and graduation ceremonies had been held in previous years. A total of 13 classrooms were destroyed while a separate wing not connected to the older structure housing the first through the fifth grades were not damaged by the fire.

        The front page of the December 2, 1976 Walton Tribune showed photos of the fire ravaging the auditorium and pictures of the aftermath of the fire, the damage being likened to  a bombed out building during World War II.

The Atlanta Constitution also carried pictures of the fire in their morning edition of the paper showing the destruction the fire caused.

        One great cause for concern was the fear the massive fire would destroy the beloved Launius Memorial Library which was not a part of the original building but connected only by a breezeway. This structure, given by the late Harry and Sally Evans Launius, was to serve as a memorial for all those Monroe students and boys who perished during World War II.  Their son, Harry Launius, Jr., was among those who lost their lives in the war. Perhaps it was divine intervention but the iconic building was spared the destructive flames of the fire.

        The day after the fire a former student stopped by and took a picture which showed the front façade of the building still proudly standing amidst the rubble. 

        A new modern structure was built which served for many years for the elementary school students.

        Other large fires of note in Monroe in earlier years gone by were: Daws Flour & Feed Company, Walker Motor Company, Monroe Oil & Fertilizer Company seed house, and a block of downtown Monroe which housed the B&M Café.

        All these fires wrought severe damage to the town but the most horrific fire of all time which destroyed almost the entire business district came about in 1857.

        The late Anita Sams, author of Walton County’s history, “Wayfarers in Walton,” tells the following story:

“Mrs. Patrick O’Leary’s lantern kicking cow and an unidentified 1857 citizen of Monroe had something in common. Each was responsible for a disastrous fire.

        Chicago’s fire was later and larger than Monroe’s. The little Georgia village and county seat of Walton was bustling with pre-Civil War prosperity when calamity struck.

        No one alive today knows who allowed the barrel of varnish to ignite in Thomas and James A. Cooper’s Family Grocery Store opposite the courthouse Tuesday night, April 7, 1857, but flames leapt with frightening speed in the wooden building.

        As the dreaded cry of “fire” rang out, the blaze spread to the large storehouse of Felker, Nowell & Co., then raced northward to an unoccupied adjacent building owned by Archibald Tanner.  Next it gained a foothold on the dwelling of William H. Rodwell, several other houses and Dr. James C. Foster’s corn crib.

        To the south, the stores of Bullard and Roberts, Cooper and Brother and Ragan and Goodson were burning.  The last named was a large new structure nearing completion.

        An old newspaper account relates that the fire then “communicated with Dr. Thomas Gallaway’s shop.”   He was able to save his books and medicines.

         “Next Col. Charles D. Davis law office was burned,” the article continued.  Though the building was lost he was able to save his library and valuable papers together with legal papers of Luther W. T. Easley, Esq.

        The blaze jumped to the large dwelling and store of John J. Marable.  His kitchen, stables and other outbuildings were consumed, his corn, bacon and fodder were destroyed.  Dr. Milton H. Thomas, whose office was in the main building, lost medicines and equipment.

        Soon after, the offices of Dr. Patrick T. Briscoe caught fire.  It spread from there to the adjacent post office and on to the large building of Col. Nehemiah Johnson on the south corner of the block.  Here, on the lot on which Monroe had its beginnings, the fire was finally brought under control.

A teacher, Josie Woods, who later became Mrs. John S. Dickinson, boarded in the frame house across the road.  She later told how at the height of the excitement a baby was born to another boarder in the threatened dwelling.  This site is directly across from the present day Monroe-Walton County Public Library (now the historic city hall).

        The courthouse and records were saved, but the fire drew resin from the wooden portions of the building.  Though it once ignited, J.H. Arnold’s Hotel nearby was protected by applications of wet blankets and buckets of water.

        All in all, the village was a pitiful sight.  With exception of the courthouse and hotel, Monroe’s entire  business district plus a number of residences were gutted.

There had been injuries when volunteer fire fighters fell from the rafters of buildings involved but no one was killed.

        Women of the little village had rallied, carrying goods from the stores and saving small pieces of furnishings.  Financial loss was estimated at $60,000.

        Soon the raking and hauling of rubble began in order to make room for new buildings which would utilize brick in every possible instance.  By 1860 Monroe had 100 houses, stores and shops and an academy.  The 1857 fire had been lived through but just ahead lay a holocaust of another kind: The Civil War.

        Charles D. Davis, who practiced law in Monroe for 50 years, followed up on his loss in the 1857 fire by building a little brick office in the yard of the Davis-Edwards house.  It is currently being restored by the Historical Society of Walton County, who owns the property.

        Monroe has encountered many fires through its years and always comes back more resilient than ever.