Many descriptions of the Great Gratz Fire of November 4, 1924, have been published – including the accounts of newspapers of the local area and region and summaries of the fire written specially for local histories.
It is believed that the fire began behind the Union House on the southeast corner of Center Street and Market Street. When it was finally extinguished, it appeared to have taken out half of the main square of the town – at least ten buildings burned to the ground!
The account that follows here was written by Marie [Umholtz] Stine, a Gratz resident who witnessed the fire.
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At the time of the great fire, I was ten years old and my mother was going to let me sleep through the night oblivious to all that was happening around us. Our neighbor, Mrs. Doc Lebo, insisted that I be awakened because she said, “This is something she will never forget.” Never was a truer word spoken!
My father Milton Umholtz and my brother Marlin Umholtz ran down to the hotel and began carrying water, thinking the fire could be contained to the icehouse. But in no time, the whole hotel went up in flames. Our house, where Kenneth Peiffer now live [1987], had a wooden shingled roof, and large sparks kept falling on it.
When my grandfather, Henry Umholtz from Lykens heard about the fire, he came over and climbed out on the roof and poured water over it to wet the shingles, so as [to] keep them from catching fire. My mother, sister and I carried water from the pump to the attic until the wind shifted, carrying the sparks in a different direction.
When everyone thought all the homes on the south side of Market Street were going to go up in flames, they began to carry furniture and rugs across the street. A spark fell on a rug belonging to the Fidler’s, as it was carried across the street to be put into our living room. The smoldering rug was discovered before any damage was done.
The north side of Market Street was lined up with furniture and rugs from the Ford Garage to Ritzman’s Restaurant (now Graby’s house). Also down Blyler’s hill to the blacksmith shop. It looked like someone was having a giant sale.
Blanche Hepler once said that it rained fire that night. She wore a navy blue coat as she helped to carry furniture across the street and later she found it to be burned full of holes.
My mother and Mrs. Lebo prepared huge breakfasts of ham, eggs, potatoes, coffee and home canned peaches for the firemen.
In the aftermath of the fire, kids poked around in the ruins. One girl, Mary Knohr, accidentally stepped into the pit of an outhouse. She was pulled out, and doused with buckets of cold water. Even so, her feet were scalded.
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From Memories, Volume 2, Gratz Historical Society, 1987.
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