“Saturday, April 25, 1885, 3:40 PM: The town of Ash Fork is now on fire,” the Albuquerque Evening Democrat proclaimed. “So far nine buildings are in ashes…”
“A telegram was received at Fort Whipple announcing the almost entire destruction of the town of Ash Fork,” the Tulare County (California) newspaper pronounced.
“The greater part of the town was destroyed,” the Sacramento Union declared.
Indeed, Ash Fork’s Great Fire of 1885 would change the town forever. The fire started shortly after Noon, “which burned nine buildings to the ground,” the Arizona Weekly Journal Miner reported. “The fire destroyed what was known as Whisky Row, which included a hotel, several saloons and stores.” Yes, Ash Fork also had a Whisky Row (spelled without the “E”), but after this disaster, the location was largely abandoned.
Few specifics were recorded in newspapers because one of the first buildings to catch fire was the Richardson building, which housed the government quartermaster and signal service telegraph. Nothing more than the earliest report was able to be transmitted.
A couple of newspaper accounts reported that one unnamed man was burned to death in the blaze. However, these were likely referring to the man in charge of the telegraph office, Agent Hawkes. Hawkes valiantly fought the flames to recover the vital records, badly burning his hands and face. It was initially thought that he was mortally wounded, but he convalesced in Prescott for three weeks before returning to Ash Fork. The Arizona Champion newspaper was happy to report that he would “be all right in a few days.”
Exacerbating the disaster was the lack of water to fight the blaze. “Ash Fork, like most of the towns on the A&P railroad, is without a supply of water, that which is used being brought in tank cars from Peach Springs and sold by the railroad company,” the St. Johns Herald explained.
Unfortunately, none of the nine building owners had fire insurance. This may well be due to insurance companies refusing coverage for wooden structures when there was no water to fight fires.
The losses were as follows:
- SF Shannon’s dwelling and shoe shop lost $600 (worth $20,700 today).
- The Ah Joe laundry also lost $600.
- Henry Wilson’s saloon and justice office lost $950 (worth $32,700 today).
- Fred Rennes’ saloon lost $2300 (worth $79,000 today).
- AG Oliver’s “Joe Ah Jew” saloon and building also lost $2300.
- RP “Dad” Furrow’s saloon lost $1500 (worth $51,600 today).
- AW Coleman’s Ash Fork Hotel lost $2200 (worth $75,700 today).
- The Richardson building, occupied by the government quartermaster’s agent and signal service telegraph office, lost $1200 (worth $41,300 today).
- A second laundry was reportedly lost, but no newspaper account included specifics.
The total loss was around $12,250, or $422,000 today.
Since the government lost property, a board of survey was appointed to meet at Fort Whipple “to fix the responsibility for the loss of the public property destroyed by the fire at Ash Fork…”
However, whatever came of their report, or even if one was filed, it wasn’t considered newsworthy enough for any surviving paper to publish it.
Despite these businesses suffering complete losses, the town rebounded immediately. Just one week after the disaster, AG Oliver, owner of the Joe Ah Jew restaurant, told the Weekly Journal-Miner that the town was “phoenix-like, rising from the ashes.” Another week later, he told the same paper that he was of “the opinion that the burnt district …[would] not be rebuilt.” This was because the business owners were deciding to rebuild at a new location. Oliver himself rebuilt his restaurant at a “better and more convenient place than formerly,” the Miner reported, and many followed suit. Specifically, this was a migration from the north side of the tracks to the south side.
SF “Dad” Furrows erected a new frame building, 20x40, to be a saloon and billiard hall. “When finished, it will be by far the most elegant[ly] appointed establishment of [its] kind in Ash Fork,” the Arizona Champion asserted.
Not everybody rebuilt in Ash Fork, however. AW Coleman, the hotel owner, “succeeded in saving very little from the flames [and] is looking for another business location,” the Champion reported. Later that month, he began building a large restaurant in Winslow.
Despite the losses, Ash Fork rebounded quickly, and by the end of 1885, the town was back on its feet…
...on the other side of the tracks.
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| Ash Fork & Rt. 66 in the 1920s |
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SOURCES:
Albuquerque Evening Democrat, 4/25/1885, Pg. 1, Col. 1.
Tulare County (California) Times, 4/30/1885, Pg. 3, Col. 7.
Sacramento (California) Union, 4/27/1885, Pg. 5, Col. 1.
Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner, 5/1/1885, Pg. 2, Col. 3.
Arizona Champion, 5/16/1885, Pg. 3, Col. 2.
St. Johns Herald, 4/30/1885, Pg. 3, Col. 2.
Santa Fe New Mexican, 5/27/1885, Pg. 1, Col. 3.
Tucson Citizen, 5/14/1885, Pg. 4, Col. 3.
Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner, 5/1/1885, Pg. 2, Col. 3.
Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner, 5/8/1885, Pg. 4, Col. 1.
Arizona Champion, 5/2/1885, Pg. 4, Col. 1.
Arizona Champion, 5/23/1885, Pg. 3, Col. 2.
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