Great Fire of 1911

The Great Fire of 1911 took place in Bangor, Maine. It started in the afternoon of April 30, 1911 on Broad Street. High winds had spread it to a shed on Exchange Street and the Universalist Church on Center Street by 4:10 PM, from where it spread into the residential neighborhood on Center Street Hill. In 1907, the National Board of Fire Underwriters had mapped the fire geography of Bangor, and predicted that a large fire could have spread from t... more

The Great Fire of 1911 took place in Bangor, Maine. It started in the afternoon of April 30, 1911 on Broad Street. High winds had spread it to a shed on Exchange Street and the Universalist Church on Center Street by 4:10 PM, from where it spread into the residential neighborhood on Center Street Hill. In 1907, the National Board of Fire Underwriters had mapped the fire geography of Bangor, and predicted that a large fire could have spread from that area. The fire eventually became so large that the glow in the sky could be seen in Belfast. It was brought under control on Monday morning, May 1, 1911, but before it was out, it destroyed much of Downtown Bangor. The Post Office, the Custom House, and Norumbega Hall were lost, along with the three buildings of Bangor High School and the Bangor Public Library. Somehow, City Hall survived, despite being in the direct path of the fire. The library's collection of 70,000 volumes was destroyed, along with much of the Bangor Historical Society... less