Camden residents and visitors will soon be able to read about an important, yet little known, piece of Camden history when a new historic marker is erected on the Camden National Bank grounds near the junction of Chestnut, Main, and Elm streets. The historic marker features the Camden Great Fire District, which was added to the National Historic Register as an historic district in 2007.

The new marker contains narrative and photos telling the story of the 1892 fire that destroyed the entire downtown business district of Camden. The informational marker is the work of Camden’s Historic Resources Committee, with cooperation and assistance of Camden National Bank, Rockport Granite, Rockport Steel, Jackson Landscape Services, and Adventure Advertising.

The Great Fire 

1892 was a year of major developments for the town of Camden. It was the first year after the February 1891 separation from Rockport when the two towns became independent entities.  It was the year the street railway of the Rockland, Thomaston and Camden Electric Railway Company was completed, and the first trolley from Rockland reached Camden on July 30.

It was also the year of the Great Fire, which destroyed the commercial center of Camden on November 10.

At the time of the fire, Camden had a population of about 3,000, a large majority of whom lived within the limits of the village.

Camden village was a popular and growing summer resort, and every year additions were made to the number of cottages on the shores of its bay and lakes. But it was not known only as a summer resort; it was equally well known as a manufacturing and prosperous business town. 

In 1892, along the three-mile length of the Megunticook River were four large and busy woolen factories, and oakum factory, a foundry, several machine shops, gristmills, and the Alden Anchor Works, the largest industry of its kind in the country, whose products were famous worldwide.  Lime-burning, quarrying, and many minor industries were all part of manufacturing operations in Camden.   

As described in the Camden Directory 1894-1895, “Camden village before the great fire was built principally of wood. Many of the buildings in its business section were a century old or more, and except for one large brick block and one or two modern buildings erected within the past decade, nearly all the buildings occupied by stores and shops were old and inconvenient, though quaint and picturesque structures.”

A notable exception to the ancient buildings, however, was Megunticook Hall, a large and handsome wooden structure, owned by the Camden Village Corporation and containing a large public hall, the police station, courtroom, and lock up.

In the early morning hours, around 1 a.m., the large four-story wooden George H. Cleveland building on the east side of Main Street was in flames.

A strong east wind “amounting to almost a hurricane,” according to the 1894-1895 Camden Directory, drove the flames across the street, and then in a few minutes, almost the entire business portion of the village was wrapped in a fiery mantle.

The fire was a devastating spectacle. The flames soared high into the air, and pieces of paper and burned shingles were carried by the gale beyond Simonton’s Corner. The fire had considerable headway before the alarm was sounded, and when the fire department arrived, the water pressure at the hydrants was inadequate, and eventually almost totally stopped.

When morning broke and the flames were under control, only “smoke, ashes, and smoldering ruins,” marked the spot where the busy center of town had been.

The following buildings and their contents had been destroyed: the Cleveland block; the gristmill and store adjoining; the Hodgman-Burd block; the Arau and Alden blocks on east side of Main Street; the whole west side of Main Street including the section lying between Main Street, Mechanic Street, and the Megunticook River, containing about 10 business blocks and one dwelling house; the section between Mechanic Street and the river east of the Mechanic Street bridge, containing four or five shops; the space enclosed by Mechanic, Elm, and Washington streets, containing eight business blocks and one dwelling house, the Estabrook house on Elm Street. Dr. Tibbetts’ house next door to the Estabrook house was partially destroyed.

Also lost were the Methodist Episcopal Church and chapel; the Fire House, and Megunticook Hall. 

In total, the loss of buildings and goods amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Fortunately, the building owners were well insured; only one small building was without insurance. Although a fire inquest was held, the cause of the fire was never determined. It was generally thought that the fire started in the heating apparatus in the basement of the G. H. Cleveland block, burned up through the elevator shaft, and burst out at the roof.

In 1892, Camden firemen numbered about 30 volunteers, but they had no equipment for handling a fire of such proportions and intensity.  Fire wagons were still drawn by horses and remained so until the 1920s.  Fire hoses were made of single-jacketed canvas, and water pressure was provided by steam-driven water pumps transported by fire wagons. 

The town did not have hydrants as we know them today.  They had a system of cisterns and wooden troughs throughout the downtown area and used fire pumps and hoses to reach the fire. Although many surrounding towns responded to help fight the fire, their efforts were no match for a fire out of control.

Immediately following the fire, town meetings were held, and the town adopted a new law forbidding the erection of permanent wooden buildings in the business center and authorized the purchase of a new steam-driven pump. 

Rebuilding the Commercial Center

During the winter following the fire, the undaunted merchants and leading citizens of Camden made plans for rebuilding the village, and work began as soon as the ground thawed in spring.

Camden was a proud town, not one to settle for less, even in the face of disaster.  Without hesitation, architects were hired; builders and craftsmen of all trades pitched in.  New substantial buildings were constructed and finished in fine manner using new building materials, creative architectural detailing features, and the latest glass windows.

Building owners installed electricity, refrigeration, and in some cases, elevators.  These are the very buildings which line Main, Mechanic, and Elm streets today.

The town installed new sewer and water lines, the Main Street roadbed was raised, and new sidewalks of brick were laid while building construction was underway.

By the close of 1893, driven by the energy and optimism of the businessmen and townspeople, most of the business buildings were completed or in process. A proud and determined Camden, indeed, had risen to its challenge.

A column printed in the Camden Herald, November 1892, reported the  supportive reactions of some nearby towns:

WHAT SOME OF OUR NEIGHBORS SAY

There is no tear shedding in Camden! No time for it. Blocks must be built and businesses resumed. Camden made quick transition.  From a burning town she became a building town and talk of brick and stone in place of wood was another lightning transition. Rockland has always respected Camden for her energy, and that respect has been changed to admiration at the pluck, energy and enterprise shown. Our neighbor bids fair to convert the great misfortune into a magnificent blessing. (Rockland Courier Gazette)

Camden’s capitalistic resources lie in her unequaled location, her pure air and beautiful natural surroundings, and these were beyond reach of the fiery devastator. Her village streets will soon be adorned by better, handsomer, and more substantial business blocks than before, and her prosperity will go unchecked, for it rests upon a solid basis that cannot be shaken by a calamity of this nature.  (Bangor Industrial Journal)

The blow that fire has dealt our beautiful neighbor is a stupendous one. The loss falls at the worst season of the year, just when business is at its best. But the character of the men upon whom the blow has fallen will be shown in this period of adversity. Already they have set plans on foot for rebuilding. With incredible swiftness, we look to see the walls of Camden reared anew, and her merchants speedily retrieve the disaster that has come with such appalling suddenness upon them. The sympathy of the entire state comes up to the sufferers, coupled with abiding confidence that Camden will rise from its ruins more beautiful than ever. (Rockland Tribune)

Sources: Reuel Robinson, The History of Camden and Rockport Maine, Chapter LVIII; The Camden Herald Archives; Barbara Dyer articles; The Camden Directory 1894-1895.

Pat Skaling is a member of the Camden Historic Resources Committee