DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about one of the most devastating days in the history of Lamar County. Now, Paris, Texas had already been around since the mid-1840s when March 21, 1916 rolled around — a town with history, with weight, with the kind of buildings that make a place feel permanent. And then, about five o'clock on that afternoon, something changed.
A fire started at the S. J. Long Warehouse near the southwest city limits.
The cause? Unknown, to this day. One theory holds that a spark from a switch engine caught dry grass near the warehouse.
One spark. That's all it took. Because the wind was blowing that day — not a breeze, not a stiff gust, but winds estimated at fifty miles per hour.
Fifty. And a fire with that kind of wind behind it doesn't walk. It runs.
It burned a funnel-shaped path, northeast, straight toward the heart of Paris, and there was precious little anyone could do to slow it down. Firemen came from Bonham, Cooper, Dallas, Honey Grove, and even Hugo, Oklahoma, to stand alongside the Paris Fire Department and fight those flames. The fire was visible up to forty miles away.
Forty miles. People in towns they never named on any map could look up and see Paris burning on the horizon. The blaze tore through the central business district.
It swept through a residential area. It took the Federal Building and post office, the Lamar County Courthouse and Jail, City Hall, most of the commercial buildings, and several churches. Almost half the town — gone.
Property damage was estimated at eleven million dollars. And it wasn't until about sunrise on March 22 that the fire was finally controlled. What the wind started, the dawn finished.
But here's the thing about Paris — and this is the part the marker makes sure you know. The townspeople collected relief funds. They opened their homes to the victims.
Rebuilding began quickly. Paris had been a railroad and market center before the disaster, and it wasn't about to stop being one. The fire took the buildings.
It could not take the town.
What the marker says
Although Paris was founded in the mid-1840s, many of its historic structures were lost in a fire that destroyed almost half the town in 1916. The blaze started about five o'clock on the afternoon of March 21, 1916, at the S. J. Long Warehouse near the southwest city limits. Its cause is unknown, but one theory is that a spark from a switch engine ignited dry grass near the warehouse. Winds estimated at 50 miles per hour soon blew the fire out of control as it burned a funnel-shaped path to the northeast edge of Paris. Firemen from Bonham, Cooper, Dallas, Honey Grove, and Hugo, Okla., helped the Paris Fire Department battle the flames, which were visible up to 40 miles away. The blaze destroyed most of the central business district and swept through a residential area before it was controlled at about sunrise on March 22. Property damage from the fire was estimated at $11,000,000. The structures burned included the Federal Building and post office, Lamar County Courthouse and Jail, City Hall, most commercial buildings, and several churches. Rebuilding was begun quickly as townspeople collected relief funds and opened their homes to the victims. A railroad and market center before the disaster, Paris soon regained its former prosperity.