Good afternoon, listmembers, Yesterday morning at about 1:30 a.m., the Cadillac Building, on the corner of South Allegheny and Bishop Streets in Bellefonte, caught fire. The papers today report that it may have been caused by the overturning of a candle onto an artificial Christmas tree in one of the apartments there. About 30 people have been left homeless -- the third floor was destroyed by fire, the roof collapsed, and the lower floors were heavily damaged by smoke and water. More can be read at www.centredaily.com. The building itself was built in 1916, designed by Anna Wagner Keichline, that eminent Bellefonte architect. It replaced a block of buildings owned by the late Edward Brown, a prominent Bellefonte figure of the 19th century. I have some old snapshots of those buildings being torn down to make way for the Cadillac Building. In a talk about Anna Keichline given last year, I commented, "She had to sue John P. Kelly in 1920 to recover some of the fees for the Cadillac Garage which she had built for him. Mr. Kelly went so far as to hire a team of Pittsburgh architects to inspect the work, anticipating using them as expert witnesses in the trial. Anna’s amiable and determined nature prevailed, however, and the parties settled out of court for $3300." At one time, my great-great-uncle, Willis Wion, sold Nash automobiles in this building. We have an old photograph of it when it was just built, which the Centre Daily Times used in today's article. My notes show, from the BELLEFONTE REPUBLICAN of 30 Oct 1924: "Wion's Garage Moved. -- Willis E. Wion, local Nash dealer, has leased the garage formerly occupied by R. N. VanIngen, in Cherry Alley, and will move in immediately. Since Deitrick & Dunlap purchased the building formerly occupied by Mr. Wion, at the corner of Bishop & Allegheny streets, the latter has had difficulty securing quarters large enough to handle his business, but the new home for Nash cars should prove amply large." We suspect that because it was built as a garage, the heavy concrete floors and durable brick structure prevented the fire from spreading too quickly. The buildings down the block are all limestone Georgian structures, nearly -- it not more than -- 200 years old, and if the fire spread to them it would likely have been very difficult to contain. Justin

This whole thing is unbelievable! Bellefonte is losing its history faster than it can rebuild it. I love the place and am deeply saddened by all the fires. Bob ----- Original Message ----- From: Justin Houser To: PACENTRE-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 4:56 PM Subject: [PACENTRE] Another Devastating Fire in Downtown Bellefonte Good afternoon, listmembers, Yesterday morning at about 1:30 a.m., the Cadillac Building, on the corner of South Allegheny and Bishop Streets in Bellefonte, caught fire. The papers today report that it may have been caused by the overturning of a candle onto an artificial Christmas tree in one of the apartments there. About 30 people have been left homeless -- the third floor was destroyed by fire, the roof collapsed, and the lower floors were heavily damaged by smoke and water. More can be read at www.centredaily.com. The building itself was built in 1916, designed by Anna Wagner Keichline, that eminent Bellefonte architect. It replaced a block of buildings owned by the late Edward Brown, a prominent Bellefonte figure of the 19th century. I have some old snapshots of those buildings being torn down to make way for the Cadillac Building. In a talk about Anna Keichline given last year, I commented, "She had to sue John P. Kelly in 1920 to recover some of the fees for the Cadillac Garage which she had built for him. Mr. Kelly went so far as to hire a team of Pittsburgh architects to inspect the work, anticipating using them as expert witnesses in the trial. Anna’s amiable and determined nature prevailed, however, and the parties settled out of court for $3300." At one time, my great-great-uncle, Willis Wion, sold Nash automobiles in this building. We have an old photograph of it when it was just built, which the Centre Daily Times used in today's article. My notes show, from the BELLEFONTE REPUBLICAN of 30 Oct 1924: "Wion's Garage Moved. -- Willis E. Wion, local Nash dealer, has leased the garage formerly occupied by R. N. VanIngen, in Cherry Alley, and will move in immediately. Since Deitrick & Dunlap purchased the building formerly occupied by Mr. Wion, at the corner of Bishop & Allegheny streets, the latter has had difficulty securing quarters large enough to handle his business, but the new home for Nash cars should prove amply large." We suspect that because it was built as a garage, the heavy concrete floors and durable brick structure prevented the fire from spreading too quickly. The buildings down the block are all limestone Georgian structures, nearly -- it not more than -- 200 years old, and if the fire spread to them it would likely have been very difficult to contain. Justin ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PACENTRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message