The dominant building in today’s 1894 picture is the European House
which was built in 1862 by A. E. Brooks and originally was a hotel with
a restaurant and store. It was
modernized in 1889 and extended by its owner, Dennis Shea, after a minor
fire. Shea
fitted plate glass windows and added three stores, making a total of
seven in the building. H. W. Rich's 1894 photograph reveals that the
European House's Railroad Street side contained the City Drug Store.
Note the ads for “Toilets and Articles”; and “Cigars and Soda”; In the
1880s, D. H.Henken, a merchant tailor dealing in men's attire occupied
the building's front store, next door to the Ladies Dining Saloon
Restaurant.
The building actually survived several more fires. In 1901, a fire began
in millinery goods store in the block due to a clerk who, in attempting
to light a gas heater, put it too close to some material hanging near
it. The fire and the water used to contain the fire ruined the store’s
stock and damaged the building. At that time, it was said that the
European House Block was thought by both the fire department and some
insurance people to be a risk. However, the fire department’s swift work
saved the building.
The fire department’s fear,
however, was borne out in 1905 when a fire began in the basement and was
discovered by two policeman who managed to get all the hotel’s occupants
out of the building. That fire affected several businesses and severely
damaged the building but it was rebuilt as a partially wooden, partially
brick building. But on
December 10, 1944, the Shea Block, was virtually destroyed by fire.
Rumors quickly spread around town that “the fire was caused by
German-American saboteurs”.
Similar stories had been told when a fire destroyed the Normal School in
1943. The Shea Block, known for many years as the European House Hotel,
was located on the southwestern
corner of Main Street and the original Railroad
Street. Policeman Raymond
Tatro first spotted the fire at 10 p.m.
He noticed smoke billowing from the Railroad Street side of the
building, and promptly called the fire department by means of a bell
alarm and a police call box located at nearby Lincoln Square. Three
sisters, the Misses Annie and Mary Shea and Mrs. Walton Lund owned the
building. There was considerable water damage in Curran’s Drug store
located on the main floor of the building, and to a temporary postal
substation. Also damaged by the fire were the
Frontenac Restaurant, the
Ideal Taxi Co.’s offices and
Abraham Osso’s store on the
Railroad Street side of the
building. The fire and smoke also
affected many adjacent businesses, including the Sears Roebuck store,
the Firestone Accessory store,
Philip Viens’ barber shop, Hudson Barrows’ Optometry offices, and the
offices of Dr. Thomas Keegan
and Attorney Alva Loiselle. The Knights of Columbus rooms on the
third floor were also damaged. A
fireman, Nelson Flagg, was overcome by smoke, but he
quickly recovered and was not
hospitalized. Insurance
estimators on the scene reckoned that the total cost of the fire would
come to more than $40,000.
Willimantic’s Fire Chief Amos Barber said that this was the
toughest fire his men had faced for many years, including the 1943 Normal
School, because of the immediate danger to surrounding buildings. This
section of Willimantic was the center of the city’s business district,
and there were many buildings in close proximity.
The historic Hurley Grant building on the opposite side of the
footbridge and Railroad Street was hosed down to prevent sparks setting
a fire there. The Coventry,
Eagleville, North Windham and Mansfield fire departments responded to the
Willimantic emergency and the Coventry Fire Department crew was
stationed at the Bank Street headquarters, ready to respond to any
subsequent call that night. It
was established that the fire had originated in the offices of the Ideal
Taxi Co. on Railroad Street, probably caused by an oil heater, rather
than sabotage. The Ideal Taxi
Co.’s offices were handily placed on Railroad Street. The Shea Block was
partially rebuilt after the 1944 fire. That
structure that, like the nearby
Hurley Grant building
would be demolished in early 1970s redevelopment.
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