By Jessica Gorman
Downtown Minden has experienced numerous fires over the course of its history. Most notably the 1933 fire that destroyed the businesses located in the Goodwill building. With a fire scare earlier this week at the Crichton building, let’s take a look back at a fire that occurred at the same location in April 1930.
That month kept firemen busy, beginning with a fire that resulted in considerable damage to businesses that were located on the site currently occupied by the Civic Center. That fire had been set in an attempt to cover up a robbery at Cason’s Store. Damages were estimated at $23,000. Later in the month, newspaper accounts record six fires that occurred in less than a week. On Wednesday, April 23rd, a delivery truck belonging to Wren & Turner burned. The next day, the home of Mr. D.V. Atkinson on Marshall Street was destroyed by fire. Friday, W.C. Cox’s store was burned. Evidence at the scene suggested arson. Saturday night, two house fires were reported in the Shreveport Road area. One resulted in only slight damage while the other structure was mostly destroyed. Finally, late Sunday night, Hortman’s, Inc., located in the Crichton building caught fire.
The night watchman was first to notice the flames that seemed to have originated in the elevator shaft. From there, it burned up through the roof, drawing the attention of passersby. Flames could be seen coming from windows on the back side of the building and fears grew that it would spread to neighboring buildings. Firemen focused their efforts first on controlling the fire in the rear of the building. With that task accomplished, they shifted to the front and, by midnight, the flames had been extinguished. Damages were estimated at around $6,000.
In the immediate aftermath, Hortman’s reopened next door in the newly constructed Ferguson building. (The Ferguson building has since been replaced with a parking lot.) Work soon began to repair the heavily damaged Crichton building. Over the course of the next three months, parts of the building were repaired but much of the interior and the front and back walls had to be rebuilt. By the end of July, repairs were complete and Hortman’s moved again, back into the Crichton building.
(Jessica Gorman is the Executive Director of the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum, Webster Parish historian, and an avid genealogist.)