Another Great Fire

Today is the anniversary of the fire that burnt Quincy nearly to the ground.  The year was 1917 and six buildings were destroyed, so that gives you an idea of the size of Quincy in 1917.  Like so many fires that destroyed towns and cities, fire was cause.  This time it was the fire that was used to render lard at Warran Platt's butcher shop, the resulting hot grease caught fire and with the aid of a strong northwest wind the wooden town burnt quickly.  Burnt where Platt's butcher shop, Johnny Dormaier's general store, Axel Jonson's law office, Fred Renz's novelty shop (a rather odd idea in Quincy), a vacant restaurant and the Post Office.  Of those affected only the Post Office choose to stay.  Everyone else left town, one can presume that this was prior to the city putting up the "Quincy - Opportunities Unlimited" signs.  It seems that opportunities were rather limited after the fire.  Really you could say the opportunities were limited in Quincy up until the last few years when the cheap electricity actually made Quincy a desirable place.