1946 Fire Destroys Old Tobacco Factory and Damages Elkins and Shebly Homes

Article from Crittenden Press, July 1946.

Fire originating in the E. Elm St. factory building of R. E. Rogers early Friday morning completely destroyed the structure, destroyed laundry equipment of P. M. Perryman and also clothes at the laundry for work; destroyed several motors belonging to Sullivan Core Drilling Co., a number of fittings and many hundreds of feet of pipe of the same company, and seriously damaged the homes of O. M. Shelby and Mr. R. E. Elkins.

                (The Old Tobacco Factory in it's earlier days, in later years it was used for a laundry and storage)

The blaze was discovered by Grave Evelyn Shelby, daughter of O. M. Shelby, who was sleeping in a room next to the laundry portion of the factory.  She was awakened by a series of blasts or explosions.  She called to her father, who rushed from his home to the factory, a distance of a few feet, and he was likewise confronted with explosions as the made an attempt to enter the building.

In addition to loss of the building, Rogers sustained loss of machinery and thousands of feet of walnut lumber.  It is reported his loss exceeded $12,000.00 and was only partially covered by insurance.

Shelby placed his residential damage at $1,500.00 with sufficient insurance to cover, but pointed to the fact that furniture and other household equipment removed from the threatened house sustained damage from both removal and exposure.

The east side of the house had all window casings and some portions of the eaves burned.  The house is of concrete and stucco construction with fire-proof roof which is all that saved complete destruction.

Fire chief Henry Sisco said that when he arrived at the building the blaze was in the laundry portion and apparently was small.  Only two firemen, John Franklin Elkins and John T. Vaughn reported and the pair were unable to properly handle the hose.  The men entered the building with a full 1ine` of hose, but the blaze became uncontrollable within a few seconds.

After sparks set fire to the Elkins and Shelby property, the entire section of the city was threatened and a call sent to Sturgis for assistance.  The Sturgis truck arrive after danger had been abated.

Hard to believe but the Shelby house is still standing today and is still being lived in.  I do not know about the Elkins residence.

The  Shelby house as it stands today on the corner of E. Elm Street.