Two grocery stores and two dwelling houses at the edge of the city limits on E. Main St. were destroyed early Friday morning by fire which originated in the store of H.L. Davis about 1 am. The dwellings were those of Earl Watkins and F.W. Shineman and the stores were owned by Watkins and H.L. Davis. Shineman, however also owned the building in which the Davis Store was located.

The cause of the fire is unknown but it was first discovered in the Davis store just before 1 o’clock and was well under way at that time. A high wind was blowing and the other buildings, all of which were crowded closely together, caught fire and were destroyed.

Part of the household goods from the Watkins home were saved, but nothing was taken from the stores. No one was in the Shineman home at the time, the family being out of town. The exact amount of damage is not known.

The Watkins home and store were practically covered by insurance and the other buildings only partially covered.

The fire department received the alarm at exactly 1:00 am and ran immediately to the fire. Although the houses were outside the city limits they were close enough to be reached from a fire plug and Fire Chief Cash had a stream of water playing on the blaze in short time. It probably would have been possible to save at least one of the buildings had it not been for the fact that falling electric light wires handicapped the firemen. The burning wires fell across the hose and burned it in two. Frequent shifts of hose were made and 450 feet of hose were ruined by the wires.

(Extracted from local newspapers by Harry Boyd)