Fire traps and eyesores occupied the minds of civic-minded Bangoreans a century ago. Many people still feared another big fire like the one that had destroyed much of the downtown in 1911.
Beyond that apprehension was the ever growing desire on the part of progressive boosters to clean up and beautify the city to make it more attractive to out-of-town shoppers, conventioneers, fairgoers and other visitors with money to spend.
At the top of the list of fire traps and eyesores near the end of 1914 were some infamous buildings, owned by the heirs to the Hayford estate, located at the corner of Hammond and Franklin streets near the Penobscot County Courthouse and Jail.
Long targeted by city fathers for demolition, the cluster of dilapidated wooden structures had once comprised “one of the fine residences of the city,” the Bangor Daily News said.
In 1913, the stable on the property had nearly burned up in a fire. By 1914, the sheriff was warning city officials that he might have to evacuate the nearby county jail – possibly releasing prisoners into the streets – should another fire strike.
The property, which over the years housed several businesses, belonged to Mrs. Anna Hayford Peirce. Her father was the late William B. Hayford, a wealthy lumberman and president of local banks and railroads. He had been the mayor of Bangor in 1876.
Hayford had left a fortune so vast that Anna was able to refuse a large payment for the property from the city in 1908 so it could become the site of a new public library. City officials actually carried bags of money totaling $45,000 to her home on Cedar Street, but she refused to see them, newspapers reported.
Later efforts by the city to seize the property failed, according to the Bangor Daily News. To block these efforts, Mrs. Peirce had fixed up the house and installed Waldo, her son who would one day become a famous artist, and another son as residents, transforming the place into a family dwelling.
City officials met Dec. 1, 1914, to discuss means for getting rid of the buildings. That’s when they presented a letter from Sheriff J. Fred O’Connell to the state insurance commissioner pointing out that the old stable, which had been partly burned the year before, sat close to the county jail. Another fire “probably would necessitate the removal or liberation of the prisoners.”
On hearing the news of the condemnation procedures underway, the Peirces did a quick turnaround. A day or so later Anna’s husband, Mellen C. Peirce, informed the mayor that the family would tear down the stable to avoid further controversy.
Peirce also reportedly said they planned to take care of the ruins of another old building on Broad Street adjoining the Swift Company’s “beef house,” the Bangor Daily Commercial announced on Dec. 3.
The Bangor Daily News chimed in with its own list of expendable eyesores the next day. “SHOCKING SHACKS SHAME THE CITY” read the colorful main headline followed by “Demand That Dilapidated Disfiguring Disgraces Disappear to Dump.”
Now that the city was getting rid of the Hayford heirs’ buildings, why not demolish some other eyesores – namely “old shacks at the south end of the former Centre Park and the shack formerly used by the Salvation Army in Park Street between the Star Theater and the Odd Fellows building.” The Centre Park shack “at the apex of the new post office lot” was “a disgrace to the city” because it was covered by old circus posters and other advertising signs in various stages of decay – “a shabby and disgusting sight.”
Decaying buildings were only one part of the fire threat in Bangor. Piles of rubbish were another. Trash had been piling up since the city decided to save money by ending garbage pickups some months before.
A “mysterious fire” at the Hub clothing store at 12 State St. touched off a debate about rubbish. The fire “seemed” to be at the foot of the basement stairs, an area used for storing “packing boxes, shoe boxes, baled paper and some odd stock,” the Bangor Daily News said on Dec. 7.
It was also noted that the city’s new “auto fire truck” was “slightly delayed” getting to the scene, because the new driver didn’t know how to operate it.
Horse-drawn Hose 3 Team, however, made a hair-raising run down Hammond Street hill and was first at the scene. It “had hose laid before others arrived.” Horses were still the kings of transportation when it came to fighting fires in Bangor.
These seemingly unrelated facts sparked more analysis of the city’s fire prevention deficiencies in separate stories.
A “well-known businessman” speaking off the record denounced the city’s decision to stop picking up rubbish. The city could much better afford downtown rubbish pickup than the loss of property taxes because of burned buildings.
“He believed that if the truth were known the condition as regards rubbish today in many basements and back rooms would create alarm,” the Bangor Daily News reported on Dec. 7.
Meanwhile, the problems posed by the new auto truck were aired in a piece in the Bangor Daily Commercial on Dec. 23. During its first six weeks in Bangor, the truck had been “delayed by mishaps” getting to two fires. Its transmission had to be rebuilt “after the ball bearings had come out” in the street. Once it stalled repeatedly on State Street hill, always a testing ground for motor vehicles, when headed to a fire.
The truck needed “skilled chauffeurs” who were “expert mechanicians,” an anonymous fireman told the Commercial.
Firemen were used to driving horses, not autos. “The powers that be have not thought it necessary to engage a skilled man for this machine…,” he added. It was “a case of economy strangling efficiency.”
Wayne E. Reilly’s column on Bangor a century ago appears in the newspaper every other Monday. His latest book, Hidden History of Bangor: From Lumbering Days to the Progressive Era, is available where books are sold. Comments can be sent to him at wreilly.bdn@gmail.com