Notable People, Lost Tales, and Forgotten Facts of Oil City, Louisiana: Oil City Burning

Did Mrs. O'Leary perhaps move to Oil City from Chicago and bring her cow along? (smile) All or significant portions of downtown Oil City have burned seven different times - in 1909, 1911, 1917, 1922, 1926, 1936, and 1939. A 1916 fire destroyed two hotels and the stable in which it originated.

1909

The earliest found incident of a town-wide fire occurred in January 1909.

(New Orleans) Semi-Weekly Times-Democrat 19-Jan-1909, Page 19

Among buildings destroyed was the Norman Hotel.

29-Jul-1979 newspaper article (presumably the Shreveport Times or possibly (Vivian) Caddo Citizen (copy provided by Regina Rushing)

Another casualty was the Oil City Hotel, Cafe, and Ice Cream Parlor; along with the adjoining pool room, shown below.

Technical World Magazine, April 1909

1911

Two years later, the town east of the tracks again burned.

The Thibodaux (LA) Sentinel 09-Dec-1911 Page 1

1916

The Virginia and Norman hotels burn along with a stable in which the fire originated.

Shreveport Times 16-Jan-1916, Page 1

1917

Fire! (Again) As originally reported, some held suspicion of its ignition being related to labor strife present at the time. Striking oilfield workers instead aided occupying federal troops in extinguishing the blaze. This influx of manpower may have been the reason it ultimately proved to be a less severe, as were the resultant damages.

Shreveport Times 04-Nov-1917, Page 1

Charles N. Cheshier , Producers Oil Company Superintendent, directed the fire fighters.

Charles N. Cheshier (1918 passport photo)

Additional information from another account of the fire.

Paris (TX) Morning News 04-Nov-1917, Page 1

1922

Another fire burns a sizable chunk of the east side of downtown.

Baton Rouge State Times 10-Aug-1922, Page 1

Scenes from the 1922 fire, both looking south.

Sam Collier's book "North Caddo Parish" as obtained from the Louisiana Oil & Gas Museum

A Shreveport brick company used a scene and details of the damage to promote its products.

Shreveport Times 13-Aug-1922, Page 23

1926

Yet another major fire in OC, with only the bank, a brick structure, reportedly the sole remaining building on the west side of the railroad tracks.

Monroe (LA) News Star 21-Sep-1926

The incident was even reported in a New York City German language newspaper.

New Yorker Volkszeitung 22-Sep-1926, Page 2

1936

Yet another major fire, said to have originated in the Strand Theater, burned multiple downtown buildings in 1936. At the time the town had no water system and no fire department - volunteer or otherwise. The sole source for fighting the blaze was a privately-owned wooden tank of salt water, which itself became a casualty as shown in the first picture below.

Times 05-Dec-1936, Page 1

Ditto, Page 17

This follow-up article published the following day provided more details of what was damaged and the associated costs.

Times 06-Dec-1936, Page 10

1939

The last (hopefully) of the major downtown fires, again on the west side. Based on the description, these were north of the Dixie Mercantile building on Land Avenue. Nathan's, Warren's, and Eggleston's would continue to conduct business for many years in other brick structures.