A Catholic Mission
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    • About
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  • Our Story
    • 1. The Stage is Set
    • 2. The Osages Enter Kansas.
    • 3. Earliest Commerce
    • 4. Earliest Protestant Missions
    • 5. The Catholic Osage Mission >
      • 5A. The Mission Complex
      • 5B. The Osage Manual Labor Schools
      • 5C. A Beacon on The Plains ...
    • 6. Progress and Tragedy
    • 7. The Missionary Trails >
      • 7A. Missions, Stations, Churches
    • 8. A Dangerous Balance - The Civil War >
      • 8A. Confederate Officers Massacred
    • 9. The Osage Leave Kansas >
      • 9A. The Missionaries Did Not Abuse the Osage.
      • 9B. Fr. Schoenmakers Speech
    • 10. A Very Unique Community is Born >
      • 10A. A Church Raising
    • 11. Regional Boarding Schools >
      • 11A. St. Francis Institution for Boys
      • 11B. St. Ann's Academy for Girls
    • 12. Transitions
    • 13. The Passionists Era Begins
    • 14. Citizen Lawmen - The A.H.T.A. >
      • A.H.T.A. Chanute - October 1914
    • 15. The Passionist Influence is Expanded
    • 16. The Schools Today >
      • 16..1 Champions & Records
  • Characters
    • The Osages
    • The Missionaries >
      • Father John Schoenmakers >
        • Father Schoenmakers' Windows
      • Fr. John Bax >
        • Father John Bax II
      • Mother Bridget Hayden
      • Fr. Paul Ponziglione >
        • Father Paul's Memoir >
          • Index - Father Paul's Memoir >
            • Dedication & Introduction
            • IX. Construction & Acceptance of Mission Buildings.
            • X. Fr. Schoenmakers Arrives at Osage Mission
            • XI. Miss Lucille St. Pierre Came to the Neosho
            • XII. Progress of the Schools
            • XIII. Origin and Development of the Roman Catholic Church in Kansas
            • XXVII - Winds of War
            • XXVIII — Fr. Schoenmakers Return
            • Chapter XLII - Farming Issues, Death Of Father Colleton
            • Chapter XLIX - Includes The Death of Fr. Schoenmakers
            • Chapter L — Dedication of the New Church
            • Conclusion
            • Appendix I — Copy of a letter to Sister M. Coaina Mongrain about the coming of the Sisters of Loretto at Osage Mission
            • Appendix 6 — A Sketch of my Biography
            • Appendix 7 - Letter to W. W. Graves
      • Father Philip Colleton
      • Brother John Sheehan
    • W. W. Graves
    • 17 Sisters
    • 17 Sisters II - Fr. Fox's Sermon
    • Who's Behind the Window >
      • Who We Were 120 Years Ago
      • 1. The Thomas Carroll Window
      • 2. The W.W. O'Bryan Window
      • 3. The Jas. Owens & Family Window
      • 4. The C.P & C.J. Hentzen Windows
      • 5. The Dr. McNamara & Family Window
      • 6. The Fitzsimmons & Family Window
      • 7. The Parents of T.K. Joyce Window
      • 8. J.E. Sevart & Family Window
      • 9. The Rev. John Schoenmakers S.J. Window
      • 10. The Patrick Diskin and L&M George Window
      • 11. The J.A. Johnston & Family Window
      • 12. The Peter & Jacob Bonifas Windows
      • 13. The Mr & Mrs. Patrick Keeting Window
      • 14. The John Butler Window
      • 15. The Mr. & Mrs. Gutting Window
      • 16. Rosette Window Above Doors
      • 17. The Michael A. Barnes Window
      • 18. The Henry M. O'Bryan Window
      • 19. The John and Bridget McCarthy Window
      • The Sodality Windows
    • The Church Women's Bonfire (Graves)
    • Beechwood
    • John and Margaret Naudier
    • Fr. Tom McKernan - The Poet Priest of Kansas
    • The Dimond Family and Estate Sale
    • Dear Sister >
      • Friend Gertrude
    • A Year and a Day — Passionist Memories.
    • Mary Elizabeth Lease
    • K of C Council 760 - The Early Days
    • Our Hometown Boys
    • SPHS Class of 1956
  • Places
    • The Great American Desert
    • St. Francis Catholic Church
    • St. Francis de Heironymo Catholic Church Grounds
    • St. Paul - 135 Years Ago
    • St. Paul - 1890's as a Scale Model.
    • St. Paul - The Booming 60's
    • Osage Mission as a Statewide History Finalist
    • St. Francis Cemetery
    • Hope Cemetery
    • The Basement Chapel
    • World War I Museum Display
    • St. Paul Middle School >
      • Some Great Folks!
    • Ladore
    • St. Boniface, Scipio KS
    • Road Trip - Father Emil Kapaun
    • Exchange State Bank Robbery!
  • Thoughts ...
  • Links
  • Link Page

Thoughts 'n Things

Past and Present Day St. Paul, Southern Kansas and The Four - State Region.

A GREAT CONFLAGRATION!

2/2/2022

 
Picture
This February 15, 1900, newspaper article, about a catastrophic St. Paul Fire, makes us appreciate our present-day firefighting capability.

The February 15, 1900, issue of the St. Paul Journal described a disastrous late-night fire that destroyed eight downtown business and nearly killed one of our citizens.  Early attempts by volunteer firefighters, to fight the fire via a bucket brigade, were proving to be futile.  That is when a trained fire company from Parsons was called in to support the locals.  The fire company arrived on a special train and was able to contain the fire before it spread across an alley and to other businesses.  The article mentions, in passing, that much of the damage might have been prevented if St. Paul had a fire company of its own.  The $40,000 loss, adjusted for time, would have equaled more than $1.3 million today.

We have come a long way since 1900 — especially during the past few years.   We have a very well-equipped volunteer fire department with headquarters at the corner of Central and Main.  The facility is central to Mission Township and occasionally travels outside of the township limits to assist other departments.  Recent efforts, including grant activity, have added technology such as updated communications, a larger radio tower, thermal imaging cameras and training that the 1900 Parsons brigade could never imagine.  Thanks to the thermal imaging technology, a recent residential structure fire was stopped in its tracks before it could destroy the home.
Read the Article:
The Journal article was on two pages.  "Click to enlarge" does not work well with these old microfilm images.  But you can click below to download and view each image in a new window.  It should work well on a phone or tablet.
Picture
Front Page (click to download)
Vertical Divider
Picture
2nd Page (click to download)

Where Was the Fire?
It took a while to figure out where the fire was.  But clues from the Journal article and an 1899 Sanborne fire insurance map, helped me figure it out.
  • A rather stiff south wind favored the fire fighters by keeping the fire from spreading to the south side of the street.  The fire was on the north side Central.
  • The Parsons fire company was able to stop the spread of the fire at the alley.  That was probably the alley west of the current O'Brien Ready Mix offices, shown below.  
The fire was at the west end of the block, on the north side of the street.  If you look at later photos and maps of that area it had completely changed before most of the buildings were razed during the '70's and '80's.  The only two buildings left from the early 1900's business district are the O'Brien building, and the Owens Department Store, now known as The Refuge or The Dugout,
Picture
Downtown St. Paul - Source 1899 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. (Click to enlarge)


Some Reference Information:
1.  Top Photo.  The banner illustration at the top of the page is from two photos.  The background is a photo of our existing Mission Township Fire Department building taken by local photographer Kent Davis — KD Shots.   The inset is from the Cumberland Valley site discussed in "2" below.
2.  An Early Volunteer Fire Department.  The arrival of the Parsons Fire Department, by train, seemed strange to me.  After doing some research, it appears it was not common but did occur.  Today, rail-based firefighting is fairly common for large wildfires and some forest fire fighting.  Here are a couple of links about modern rail firefighting.  Both will open in a new window.
  • ​BSNF Firefighting Trains Stop Wildfires in Their Tracks
  • Wildfire Today Article about a Fire Train.
Picture
​During my digging, I came across the Cumberland Valley Volunteer Fireman's Association website.  The association was formed in 1901 for the purpose of adopting a uniform hose coupling and to develop a mutual aid system, among volunteer departments, along the Cumberland Valley Railroad.   It is a neat story, and the site provided the inset photo for the banner picture at the top of the page.  The link below takes you to their About Us page and you can look around the site from there, if you like.   ​https://cvvfa.org/about-us/

    Thoughts 'n Things

    Some 'Thoughts' and short articles about past and present-day St. Paul and the Southern Kansas - 4 State Region.


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    1847
    1900 Downtown Fire
    Annals Of Osage Mission
    April 28
    Beacon On The Plains
    BIG FISH!
    Cathedral Display
    Cooney & Strecker Weddings
    Early Schools
    Eureka Kansas
    Faces - Class Of 1932
    Fake News
    Four Phases Of History
    Gazetteer Of Catholic Places
    Girl's School Opens
    Good For Greenbush
    Graves Library
    Greenbush Days 2020
    Informal Historical Society
    Jacksonville - Deliberation
    Kansas Day
    Links To Our Past
    Making Do
    Meeker School - 1906
    New Town Of Walnut
    O'Brien .. O'Bryan .. HUH?
    Old Log Church
    Pilgrimage Of The Plains
    Sacred Heart Larned And Fr. Colleton
    Sesquicentennial Again!
    Sobering Thought!
    Someone's Home.
    Sports Complex
    St. Francis At 135 Years!
    St. Francis Windows
    The Civil War
    The Swan Song
    We Are Important!
    What IS That Word???
    W.W. Graves

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acatholicmission.org is a privately hosted website.  We hope that our site will educate and entertain those who are interested in the fascinating Osage Mission - St.  Paul - Neosho County Kansas story.  Ours is a regional story that crosses state lines, ethnic groups, faiths and a variety of frontier and post-frontier interests.  Enjoy.

acatholicmission.org Copyright © 2016 - 2023. All rights reserved.
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  • Home
    • About
    • Contact
  • Our Story
    • 1. The Stage is Set
    • 2. The Osages Enter Kansas.
    • 3. Earliest Commerce
    • 4. Earliest Protestant Missions
    • 5. The Catholic Osage Mission >
      • 5A. The Mission Complex
      • 5B. The Osage Manual Labor Schools
      • 5C. A Beacon on The Plains ...
    • 6. Progress and Tragedy
    • 7. The Missionary Trails >
      • 7A. Missions, Stations, Churches
    • 8. A Dangerous Balance - The Civil War >
      • 8A. Confederate Officers Massacred
    • 9. The Osage Leave Kansas >
      • 9A. The Missionaries Did Not Abuse the Osage.
      • 9B. Fr. Schoenmakers Speech
    • 10. A Very Unique Community is Born >
      • 10A. A Church Raising
    • 11. Regional Boarding Schools >
      • 11A. St. Francis Institution for Boys
      • 11B. St. Ann's Academy for Girls
    • 12. Transitions
    • 13. The Passionists Era Begins
    • 14. Citizen Lawmen - The A.H.T.A. >
      • A.H.T.A. Chanute - October 1914
    • 15. The Passionist Influence is Expanded
    • 16. The Schools Today >
      • 16..1 Champions & Records
  • Characters
    • The Osages
    • The Missionaries >
      • Father John Schoenmakers >
        • Father Schoenmakers' Windows
      • Fr. John Bax >
        • Father John Bax II
      • Mother Bridget Hayden
      • Fr. Paul Ponziglione >
        • Father Paul's Memoir >
          • Index - Father Paul's Memoir >
            • Dedication & Introduction
            • IX. Construction & Acceptance of Mission Buildings.
            • X. Fr. Schoenmakers Arrives at Osage Mission
            • XI. Miss Lucille St. Pierre Came to the Neosho
            • XII. Progress of the Schools
            • XIII. Origin and Development of the Roman Catholic Church in Kansas
            • XXVII - Winds of War
            • XXVIII — Fr. Schoenmakers Return
            • Chapter XLII - Farming Issues, Death Of Father Colleton
            • Chapter XLIX - Includes The Death of Fr. Schoenmakers
            • Chapter L — Dedication of the New Church
            • Conclusion
            • Appendix I — Copy of a letter to Sister M. Coaina Mongrain about the coming of the Sisters of Loretto at Osage Mission
            • Appendix 6 — A Sketch of my Biography
            • Appendix 7 - Letter to W. W. Graves
      • Father Philip Colleton
      • Brother John Sheehan
    • W. W. Graves
    • 17 Sisters
    • 17 Sisters II - Fr. Fox's Sermon
    • Who's Behind the Window >
      • Who We Were 120 Years Ago
      • 1. The Thomas Carroll Window
      • 2. The W.W. O'Bryan Window
      • 3. The Jas. Owens & Family Window
      • 4. The C.P & C.J. Hentzen Windows
      • 5. The Dr. McNamara & Family Window
      • 6. The Fitzsimmons & Family Window
      • 7. The Parents of T.K. Joyce Window
      • 8. J.E. Sevart & Family Window
      • 9. The Rev. John Schoenmakers S.J. Window
      • 10. The Patrick Diskin and L&M George Window
      • 11. The J.A. Johnston & Family Window
      • 12. The Peter & Jacob Bonifas Windows
      • 13. The Mr & Mrs. Patrick Keeting Window
      • 14. The John Butler Window
      • 15. The Mr. & Mrs. Gutting Window
      • 16. Rosette Window Above Doors
      • 17. The Michael A. Barnes Window
      • 18. The Henry M. O'Bryan Window
      • 19. The John and Bridget McCarthy Window
      • The Sodality Windows
    • The Church Women's Bonfire (Graves)
    • Beechwood
    • John and Margaret Naudier
    • Fr. Tom McKernan - The Poet Priest of Kansas
    • The Dimond Family and Estate Sale
    • Dear Sister >
      • Friend Gertrude
    • A Year and a Day — Passionist Memories.
    • Mary Elizabeth Lease
    • K of C Council 760 - The Early Days
    • Our Hometown Boys
    • SPHS Class of 1956
  • Places
    • The Great American Desert
    • St. Francis Catholic Church
    • St. Francis de Heironymo Catholic Church Grounds
    • St. Paul - 135 Years Ago
    • St. Paul - 1890's as a Scale Model.
    • St. Paul - The Booming 60's
    • Osage Mission as a Statewide History Finalist
    • St. Francis Cemetery
    • Hope Cemetery
    • The Basement Chapel
    • World War I Museum Display
    • St. Paul Middle School >
      • Some Great Folks!
    • Ladore
    • St. Boniface, Scipio KS
    • Road Trip - Father Emil Kapaun
    • Exchange State Bank Robbery!
  • Thoughts ...
  • Links
  • Link Page