The Fire
On
April 26, a beautiful spring day in 1930, seniors Edith Yager and Hazel Byerly,
from Ghent and Pineville, Kentucky, respectively, headed for morning assembly in
the chapel.
As they approached, they impatiently brushed flakes of flying soot from their clothes and arms, but paid little attention to the origins of “that stuff.”
As Georgetonians began singing “I Need Thee Every Hour,” sophomore Charlie Billips, from Harlan, Kentucky, hurried into the building and quietly told people on the back row, “Come on out, kids, the building is on fire.” No one moved until he said in a loud voice, “Dean, the building is burning.”
The
students, not sure whether or not it was a hoax, walked out calmly to the front
of the building. To their amazement, they discovered flames and smoke billowing
from the belfry and the roof. Students and faculty quickly responded.
Greek professor J.A. Tolman went into the upper tiers of the library, pulling armloads of rare books off the shelves, handing them to students to carry outside.
As the fire raged, librarian Eva Fisher and other library workers threw books and potted plants from the windows to awaiting students below.
Freshman O.E. Pilson, from Stuart, Virginia, ran from his French class in neighboring Giddings Hall to his living quarters in the basement of the chapel building and retrieved his possessions.
The fire burned hotter with each passing moment.
Others went to the third floor to salvage biology equipment, which had been
purchased that year.
Students retrieved presidential portraits from the chapel walls while Billips
and others tried to save the grand piano from the chapel stage, but, on Dean
Hinton’s orders, dropped it and ran for their lives. One leg of the piano was
saved.
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Flames and smoke billowed from the roof as students and faculty emerged from the Chapel on the morning of April 26, 1930. Photograph by Dr. A. Graham Mosely, Jr., Assistant Professor of Chemistry |
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Fire units from Lexington and Frankfort were called on to help the Georgetown City Fire Department, which was inadequately equipped to fight a fire of that magnitude. Photograph by |
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Looking from Giddings Hall toward the Chapel entrance.
Georgetown College |
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Job nearly complete. Stream of water from a fire hose to the left of the building indicates the fire is nearly put out.
Photo from |
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"Flying burning particles and hot pieces of tin endangered those who were standing nearby. One house several blocks away belonging to J.S. Morgan caught fire and the entire roof was burned off with a loss of several hundred dollars." The Georgetonian, May 2, 1930 Photograph by |
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The interior of the structure collapsed after 15 minutes of burning. "The water was trained on the walls of Giddings Hall 40 yards away to prevent its becoming inflamed." The Georgetonian, May 2, 1930 |
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In no time at all, despite the best efforts of many, the Chapel Building was in ruins. Firefighters continued to pump water in an effort to control the smoldering ashes. |
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"The Chapel Building, friend and servant for so many years, had a magnificent funeral pyre this year. As the blazing flames spread over its gabled and turreted top, and the ruby light gleamed through the tall, stained glass windows, the Chapel Building assumed a prominence never held before, and was a sight of lurid, intense, terrible beauty. Afterwards, its walls stood silent, smoking, a ruin of hopes, an empty tomb."
Edith Yager, Senior |
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| The remains take on the look of a "funeral pyre," as referenced in the quote above by senior Edith Yager at the 1930 Commencement. |
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"After the blaze had been extinguished, "I remember how the students walked about the campus in a kind of daze, looking at the ruins in disbelief, stopping to talk in little groups, asking each other: 'How did it happen? Where were you? What did you do? How much was saved?' And then the question that troubled us all, 'How can Georgetown go on without the chapel building?' VVera Morris, Freshman |
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"I recall the terribly depressed feeling which seemed to permeate the student body. For awhile we did not know whether the college would continue." O.E. Pilson, Freshman Photo: Looking south at the rear of the building. The interior of the chapel was located in front of the five arched windows, next to the belfry tower.. |
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