Bedford Station Fire

[Steve Dolzall]

DEPOTS ARE DESTROYED.

MONON PASSENGER AND FREIGHT STATIONS BURNED TODAY.

BIG FIRE IN BEDFORD.

Every Box Car in the Yards Was Ablaze----Poultry House Destroyed.

BEDFORD, Ind., Aug. 7----The Monon freight house and passenger station burned this morning. The freight house was entirely consumed and for a time every car in the yards was on fire. The walls of the passenger station were left standing, but it will be a total loss. The fire spread to the Arthur Jordan poultry house and inflicted much damage. The total loss will be upwards of $100,000.

Fort Wayne News, Fort Wayne, IN 7 Aug 1902


Steve

[Ron Marquardt]

That brings up an interesting su[not allowed]ect Steve.  I have some followup information that a portion of the depot was in fact saved, and became part of a later depot, but if that is true, was it later totally replaced by the depot that's still there, or is it in fact part of the depot that's still there?  Attached is a photo of the Bedford depot taken in 1914, but is this the depot that's still standing?  / Ron 

[Steve Dolzall]

The station in this photo is the one that burned in 1902. The construction of the new Bedford passenger station and freight house was reported in the 1903 CI&L Annual Report. That is the station building still in Bedford today. Lloyd Kimble had a photo of the Bedford station and freight house after the fire. I would think the Society now has that photo.

Steve

[Ron Marquardt]

Steve, is this the picture you're referring to?  I don't know where we got this, but it may have originally come from Lloyd's collection.  / Ron

[Steve Dolzall]

Yes Ron,

That is the photo. The copy we used in the book was part of Lloyd's collection.

Steve

[Steve Dolzall]

Thanks to Ron asking that I recheck my information, I must confess to a higly senile moment. According to the 1926 CI&L Annual Report, the present station in Bedford was built in 1926. I am sorry about the earlier misinformation but when you get older, you too will realize how the information banks sometimes become fogged over.

Steve