While the Great Brunswick Fire of 1825 is likely the most well-known fire to have occurred in the Midcoast, the City of Bath has known at least two “Great Fires” in its history.

On Friday night, Jan. 17, 1837, at approximately 11 p.m., a fire broke out in the “two-story wooden building” that occupied Parson Smith’s Grocery and Samuel Foote’s Boot and Shoe shop at the corner of Front and Ferry streets.

Accessing the fire became challenging as a “near gale” force wind was “blowing violently from the northeast accompanied with a severe snowstorm” that dumped over eight inches of snow as temperatures dipped to -4 degrees.

Two “hand-tubs” were deployed by the Bath Fire brigade and “were soon froze up and useless.” “The scarcity of water” in the Kennebec River at low tide hampered firefighters. Meanwhile, “indefatigable citizens” joined firefighters as the alarm reached nearly 4,000 citizens.

Residents hurriedly aided store owners, saving goods and belongings which were then “scattered in every direction.” Meanwhile, “all of the surrounding buildings were enveloped in one sheet of fire.” Then, driven by the wind, the fire “leaped across the street,” carrying with it “destruction and misery.” Building by building ignited and were “utterly impossible to save.”

By “four o’clock” the next day “the fire was checked.” One report states that if it wasn’t “for that brick wall” in one of the larger buildings, “nearly all of the houses and stores to the south probably would have been destroyed as far down as Winnegance.”

Miraculously, no one was killed. However, more than 30 buildings were destroyed, with many more damaged. Over seven grocers and dry goods stores, three shoe and boot shops, four cabinet and furniture makers, two milliners, two barbershops, two jewelers, one tailor shop, a stable, and a few residential dwellings were now “burnt to ashes.”

The 1837 fire was quickly labeled as a “Great Fire” that consumed Bath. Yet, one more great blaze would rage through this same area nearly 60 years later.

On Sunday morning, Jan. 28, 1894, that “Great Fire” began in “a stable belonging to the Sagadahock (Hotel),” and this blaze once again engulfed Bath’s downtown, this time at Centre and Front streets.

Quickly, Bath’s “old steamer #1” and “steamers #2 and #3 were at work throwing water on the blaze.” But hydrants in the city were dry, and once again, firefighters relied on water from the Kennebec River.

All available hands “went to work getting out all the horses and carriages” in the hotel’s stable. But the quick-moving flames “destroyed some of their best carriages” and “a number of pigs.” The fire “spread with … amazing rapidity” from building to building, threatening “the whole of the city.”

Telegraph messages were immediately sent to Portland, Lewiston and Brunswick fire departments calling for immediate assistance. Men and apparatus were quickly loaded on to “flat cars” and rushed by rail to Bath.

Within the hour “hand tubs Kennebec and Niagara, from Brunswick [had] arrived.” Then, by noon, more help pulled in “on the special train” as “Portland’s engine #6 and Hose #3” as well as an “engine” from Lewiston were also unloaded and “went to work.”

“During the fire, explosions were frequent” destroying stores, shops, two banks and miscellaneous dwellings. Flames “reached … gas meters,” causing smoke and fire to blow out into the street, “almost smothering the fireman … who stood bravely at their posts.”

Many citizens of Bath fought alongside firemen and battled the flames. “Every few minutes a huge wall would fall … jarring the whole street as they struck the ground,” causing the crowd to “scatter in all directions.”

Flames engulfed a few shops at Bath Iron Works where a “derrick fell over onto the Stater Yacht [and] bent some of the plates and part of the frame,” and many workers “were put out of their shops.”

By twilight, the conflagration had been quelled, but “firefighters kept at work all night … wetting down the ruins … while out of town steamers went home.” Mayor Shaw ordered “crackers, meats, hot coffee, [and] bottled soda … prepared for the firemen.”

When the toll of devastation was tallied, no loss of life had been reported, but “more than 47 businesses were affected … and the downtown of Bath” was once again “changed forever.” A “fire inquest” later determined that a broken “water main from New Meadows” was the cause of the dry hydrants.

Nearly every city and town in Maine can claim a “Great Fire” in their history, and for Bath, there are numerous fires which were large and greatly destructive. However, the Great Bath Fires of 1837 and 1894 are two of the City of Ship’s most legendary infernos ever recorded in the annals of our incendiary Stories from Maine.

Lori-Suzanne Dell is a Brunswick author and historian. She has published four books and runs the “Stories from Maine” Facebook page.