(By Tom Beardsley and Pete Zizka) By 1890, Willimantic had become a central distributing point for building materials on the New England railroad network. Willimantic was home to several large lumberyards, some with coal and/or lumber storage sheds along the tracks at the depot. Hillhouse and Taylor, Lincoln and Boss, E.A. Buck, and George Nason were the foremost dealers. Since the Civil War, one of those companies occupied the area bounded by Valley, Church and Temple Streets. The original Valley Street lumberyard had been operated by Hyde Kingsley, and was taken over by George Nason in 1889. After Nason’s death in 1906, the business was sold to Patrick Twomey ( manager of the yard under Nason’s ownership), Lewellyn Storrs ( a judge of probate in Mansfield) and Fred Tilden (bookkeeper and assistant manager for Nason). The three men organized a stock company and called their venture “The Willimantic Lumber & Coal Company”. Around 1920, the Willimantic Lumber & Coal Company erected a fine Tudor-style building on Church Street, which replaced an old lumber shed and offices. Twenty years after that, the Company did an extensive remodeling job on the Tudor building, which stood opposite the old Holland Silk Mills on Church and Valley. But in a matter of weeks after the rebuilding and remodeling, the building burned to the ground, causing an estimated $150,000 worth of damage. It was the morning of September 19, 1940 and the city awoke to discover that it had suffered what would later be called the worst fire since 1916 when the Jordan Hardware Company block burned down on Main Street. The Fire Department’s Headquarters on Bank Street received a phone call from a woman at 2:40 am, reporting that the whole Willimantic Lumber and Coal Company was on fire. When the fireman arrived on the scene, flames were shooting more than 100 feet in the air. All available fire hydrants were utilized, providing water for 12 hoses, and soon after the Willimantic department arrived, fire companies from South Windham, Mansfield, Storrs, North Windham, Coventry, Eagleville and Hampton joined them. The combined work of these companies stopped the spread of fire into adjacent Valley, Church and Temple Streets. There was no wind to fan the flames, but sparks drifted across town in a half mile radius. The years spent in standardizing the equipment of the companies in the Willimantic district, had paid off as all companies worked together as one, well-drilled unit. The greatest damage had been done to the Schilberg tenement house directly adjacent to the yard. The Schilberg and Roberts family in the tenement were awakened by neighbors, and escaped serious injury. The Roberts family lost all their possessions except for the clothing they grabbed as they escaped the building. Also, a great deal of damage was done to the home and undertaking business of Clement Hurteau, on the opposite side of Temple Street. The intense heat blistered structures on the opposite side of Church Street. The roof of the old Chaffee Silk mill suffered considerable damage. Plate glass windows were cracked in the old Church Street town hall and police station. Also damaged on Church Street were blocks owned by Minot Fryer and Katherine Rew. Fireman constantly hosed the roofs of all surrounding structures, and saved a large number of buildings. The sparks were a constant danger, and many were falling as far away as the Valley Street extension. Stocks of paint and varnishes in the Lumberyard drove the flames higher and constantly forced back the 125 firefighters. The occupants of surrounding buildings started to remove valuables, and during the day, a crowd estimates at thousands, watched the fireman as they doused the flames.  The manager of the Lumber Company, Robert Casey, reported that all that was saved were two office chairs and a typewriter. Fortunately, the loss was covered by his insurance. The company took possession of an office at 73 Church Street, and carried on their business from there. (to be continued) .