/ (II I THE BRIDGEPORT NEWS, T froln tIle Historical Collections

A view of Water Street, looking north from State Street, taken in

1888 shows how the area looked 43 years after the Great Fire of 1845

destroyed many businesses and homes. The blaze started in a pile of

wood shavings in a storage area owned by George Well, who operated a Water Street oyster saloon and boarding house. No one was killed in the fire, but about $150,000 worth of damage resulted.

Great Fire of 1845 destroyed 49 buildings on Water Street

At 1:15 on the morning of Dec. }(" 1845, George Well woke up to find his oyster saloon and board ing house on Bank Strect downto wn in fl ames. Well and his family lived on the premises, and were able to es cape the d evastating inferno just in tim e. Firefighters arrived q ui ckly, but the wind was coming from the northwest and spread th e fire throughout the surround ing area. The tid e was low and the weather extremely cold, causing the firemen to have trouble pump in g water into the quickly moving fl am es. Buildings in the area were constructed of wood and the fire worked its way through them, burning a path through stores on Statc Street and up and down Watcr and Bank streets. The Republican Farmer news paper latcr reported that, "Every store on Water Street, from the store of Hezekiah Lewis on the west and Munson Hawley on the east, to the old Cooper Shop and Atkinson's Marble Yard, was burnt to the ground; also every building on State Street to the dwelling house of William Peet on one side, and to the cabinet shop of F. Lockwood and Co. on the other." The newspaper printed a map of the burned district a few days after the fire, showing 49 build ings were destroyed. The people who owned businesses and homes that were destroyed were termed "sufferers" by the media and a list of their names and losses was printed. This was an era before fire in surance was commonplace, so many of the building owners did not have insurance, including Benjamin Wheeler and Thomas Hawley . Some of the other stores, such as Matthew Curtis and Son, and T. Ranson and Co., had only par tially insured their stock, never thinking that such a devastating fire could ever destroy their busi nesses. Twenty or 30 poor families, who lived in boarding houses in .the area, lost everything they owned in the fire. By 4 that morning, the fire was extinguished. Mayor Henry K. Harral gave firefighters a spe cial thanks at a Common Council meeting later that day. Mer chants and citizens took out ads in the newspaper, thanking their fellow citizens and the firemen for their assistance. Insurance companies such as Hartford Mutual also took out big ads, hoping that the fire would encourage more people to purchase fire insurance. , It was discovered that the fire started in a pile of wood shavings in Well's storage area. The total loss from the fire was estimated at $150,000, of which only $80,000 was insured. No one was killed during the blaze, later dubbed "The Great Fire of 1845." One eyewitness to the fire, George Sanford, rccounted years later, "I recall that many re marked the next day that the fire was 'the best thing that ever happened to Bridgeport,' and I think it was so, as nearly all the buildings burned were old and di lapidated. " MARY K. WITKOWSKI Head of Historical Collections Bridgeport Public Library

Sacred Heart urges commuters to connect

Tricia DcNitto of Bridgeport rl'cdled how intimida,ting it was commuter assistants helping about 100 new commuter students become Program organizer Kim Sousa Peoples, student services coordi- .