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Erieville Hotel Burns

This article appeared in the Cazenovia Republican on Thursday, January 5, 1939 on page 1.

FIRE OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN DESTROYS OLD HOSTELRY

The biggest fire that has visited Erieville in many years destroyed the three-story old Erieville Hotel building Friday night.  The fire, which was of undetermined origin, is believed to have started shortly before 2:45 a.m., Saturday.  The loss is estimated at $5,000.00. The building was half a century old.  The Picture above was taken by Wilford Nabor, president of the Cazenovia Camera Club.  Fifty-five years ago, the previous building on this site burned to the ground.

The blaze was discovered by Mrs. Charles Spaulding who chanced to look out her window at the Spaulding home.  She summoned her husband who turned in the alarm and at the same time both the first and second floors of the hotel were ablaze.

The great hazard confronting the Erieville fire department under the direction of Fire Chief Wesley Sternburg, whose home is directly south across the highway from the burned structure, was to prevent the fire from spreading to near by dwellings.  Chief Sternburg said the building, constructed of hemlock, burned like a matchbox.

The terrific heat not only kept the firemen back, but also broke windows in the Sternburg, H. D. Gaige and E. B. Buckingham residences.  Had there been a high wind half the village would have gone up in smoke, Chief Sternburg declared.  The New Woodstock firemen were called out just before the telephone circuits were cut out.  Both the telephone and electric light services were paralyzed for nearly five hours.

Dropping their pumper lines into the creek at the foot of the hill in the business section, both departments pumped the water supply dry two or three times, but due to the water running down hill from the scene of the fire back into the creek, the firemen were able to keep pumping.

A public dance <was> held at the hotel Friday night, which was over at 1:00 A.M., and no one <is> believed to have been in the hotel when the fire broke out.  The building, formerly owned by Mrs. Frank Blair of Eaton, was leased and operated by Jack Hosid.  It was originally built by Henry Griffin and his father, but had changed hands several times.

Called at 8:00 a.m., Trooper K.  J. Merrill of Cazenovia and Trooper Earl Fogarty of the BCI department of Oneida barracks investigated.

The wife of an Erieville resident was said to have looked out her window at 2:10 a.m. and at that time there was no sign of a fire at the hotel.

The south side of the H. D. Jilson residence, which faces the rear of the hotel, was badly scorched and the porch of Chief Sternburg's home was caught at the peak.  It was considered by the chief and several other residents .to have been the worst fire in the village in close to 50 years.