Top 5 Biggest Quincy Fires
On our Fire! episode of Wild Quincy we look into some of the famous fires in Quincy’s history. While we talk about many other fires in the podcast (listen here now), we also created a Top 5 list of the biggest/most damage caused by fires. We took the estimated losses of each fire adjusting for inflation and were able to come up with a Top 5 list of most destructive fires in Quincy, Illinois history. Be sure to listen to the podcast for more in-depth information on each!
Number 5: Vidas Transfer Storage Warehouse
Location: 10th and Vermont (map)
Fire Date: 1/16/1950
Loss at time: $300,000
Loss value adjusted for inflation: $3,221,402
*Images Courtesy of the Quincy Public Library: Quincy Area Historic Photo Collection
** Photo Credi: The Quincy Herald Whig, Tuesday January 17th, 1950
Number 4: Wholesale Row
Location: West side of 3rd between Hampshire and Vermont (map)
Fire Date: 2/21/1904
Loss at time: $180,000
Loss value adjusted for inflation: $5,286,741
*Images Courtesy of the Quincy Public Library: Quincy Area Historic Photo Collection
Number 3: Gem City Sawmill
Location: On the Quincy Bay near Cedar Street (map)
Fire Date: 4/21/1902
Loss at time: $235,000
Loss value adjusted for inflation: $7,142,906
*Images Courtesy of the Quincy Public Library: Quincy Area Historic Photo Collection
Number 2: Schott Saddlery/City Hall
Location: 3rd and Hampshire (map)
Fire Date: 1/18/1906
Loss at time: $346,000
Loss value adjusted for inflation: $10,049,377
*Images Courtesy of the Quincy Public Library: Quincy Area Historic Photo Collection
Number 1: Dayton Tablet Co.
Location: 2nd St. between Hampshire and Vermont (map)
Fire Date: 2/17/1913
Loss at time: $400,000
Loss value adjusted for inflation: $10,456,000
*Photo Credi: The Quincy Daily Herald, Thursday February 20th, 1913
**Image Courtesy of the Quincy Public Library: Quincy Area Historic Photo Collection
Here’s Chris’ original Powerpoint document that shows some additional information on all fires he looked into in Quincy Illinois’ History