January 9 1879: Fire in Boyer's Store Building Doused Quickly by Heroic Firefighters

By Margaret Leidy Harner from her book One Day at a Time: A Social History of Boyertown, PA.

January 9 1879: Our busy little village was startled by the fire alarm today when thick clouds of smoke were seen to issue from the original Boyer’s Store building at 1 East Philadelphia Avenue. It is now being used as a warehouse for stock for the new store across the street at 2 East Philadelphia Avenue. The alarm brought a large number of people to the scene and the Keystone Fire Company was soon on the spot.

Since the fire was confined to the cellar of the building, it was necessary to break at least a dozen holes through the first floor with axes and bars. The contents stored there were soon saturated with water, but the fire was extinguished in about a half hour.

The heroic efforts of the firemen were credited with saving the entire building and probably others in the neighborhood from complete destruction.

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