Comments on: The Grand Fires of 1904 – Lowell, Massachusetts and Fire’s Constant Threat http://forgottennewengland.com/2011/11/26/the-grand-fires-of-1904-lowell-massachusetts-and-fires-constant-threat/ Exploring New England As It Was Sun, 28 Apr 2013 02:50:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Colleen http://forgottennewengland.com/2011/11/26/the-grand-fires-of-1904-lowell-massachusetts-and-fires-constant-threat/#comment-1236 Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:02:24 +0000 http://forgottennewengland.com/?p=690#comment-1236 my great great grandfather was lowell fire chief at one point or so i hear and i’m trying to find out more about him! His last name was McCafferty and he had kids in the 1890′s ..anything anyone knows would be helpful :]

]]> By: Fires of Lowell, Massachusetts – Sacred Heart School, 1967 « Forgotten New England http://forgottennewengland.com/2011/11/26/the-grand-fires-of-1904-lowell-massachusetts-and-fires-constant-threat/#comment-368 Sun, 12 Feb 2012 05:36:05 +0000 http://forgottennewengland.com/?p=690#comment-368 [...] The Grand Fires of 1904 – Lowell, Massachusetts and Fire’s Constant Threat (forgottennewengland.com) Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. This entry was posted on Sunday, February 12th, 2012 at 12:35 am and tagged with Lowell, Lowell Fire Department, Lowell Massachusetts, Sacred Heart Church, Sacred Heart School and posted in City Life, Disasters, history, lowell, Massachusetts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. « 1918: Spanish Flu, Attitudes toward Housekeeping, and a Little Bit about Linguistic History [...]

]]> By: Forgotten New England http://forgottennewengland.com/2011/11/26/the-grand-fires-of-1904-lowell-massachusetts-and-fires-constant-threat/#comment-148 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 03:40:52 +0000 http://forgottennewengland.com/?p=690#comment-148 Thanks Corey! I’ve visited your blog often. One of my ancestors was a fireman in Lowell in the 1920′s; so, I’ve enjoyed researching this topic.

]]> By: Corey http://forgottennewengland.com/2011/11/26/the-grand-fires-of-1904-lowell-massachusetts-and-fires-constant-threat/#comment-144 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:47:38 +0000 http://forgottennewengland.com/?p=690#comment-144 As a downtown Lowell resident and local history buff, Great series! I look forward to reading the rest.

]]> By: The Grand Fires of 1904 – Lowell, Massachusetts – The Rise and Fall of the O’Donnell and Gilbride Department Store | Forgotten New England http://forgottennewengland.com/2011/11/26/the-grand-fires-of-1904-lowell-massachusetts-and-fires-constant-threat/#comment-111 Sun, 04 Dec 2011 12:52:36 +0000 http://forgottennewengland.com/?p=690#comment-111 [...] share of fire risks, especially in its downtown area. Before January was even half over in 1904, Lowell had suffered three substantial fires, one of which claimed the O’Donnell & Gilbride Department Store, the city’s [...]

]]> By: Karen K http://forgottennewengland.com/2011/11/26/the-grand-fires-of-1904-lowell-massachusetts-and-fires-constant-threat/#comment-92 Sun, 27 Nov 2011 16:00:06 +0000 http://forgottennewengland.com/?p=690#comment-92 You also have a great-great uncle who was a fireman? Wow. :-)

I don’t know much about the Boston Fire of 1872, but I should probably learn more about it. My great-great Uncle James (James F. Ryan) didn’t join the Boston Fire Department until 1894 (I don’t think he was born till 1873, a year after the great fire).

His parents, my Irish immigrant great-great grandparents, probably witnessed or were affected by it.

]]> By: Forgotten New England http://forgottennewengland.com/2011/11/26/the-grand-fires-of-1904-lowell-massachusetts-and-fires-constant-threat/#comment-91 Sun, 27 Nov 2011 15:25:12 +0000 http://forgottennewengland.com/?p=690#comment-91 Hi Karen,

Thanks for your comment. I started crafting this post thinking about my great-grandmother’s brother, who was a fireman in Lowell, Massachusetts in the 1920′s. Have you researched Boston’s Great Fire of 1872? It was the largest fire in Boston’s history, destroying something like 65 acres and 800 buildings. It also resulted in 20 lost lives. Depending on the timing, your great-great uncle may have been involved in fighting that fire. The Boston Public Library has a rather extensive set of photographs online at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/sets/72157624805421584/with/5121569166/

]]> By: Karen K http://forgottennewengland.com/2011/11/26/the-grand-fires-of-1904-lowell-massachusetts-and-fires-constant-threat/#comment-90 Sun, 27 Nov 2011 14:38:58 +0000 http://forgottennewengland.com/?p=690#comment-90 Hi Ryan,

Found your blog via a link Julie at GenBlog gave in her weekly “Friday Finds” post. I’m very glad I came upon it, it’s really neat. My roots are in New England, and that’s where most of my genealogy research is concentrated.

This article about the fires… I’m sure that firemen were never bored back then, with so many fire hazards about. I have a great-great uncle (great-grandfather’s brother) who was a district fire chief in the Boston Fire Dept. Found an article about him, and his obit (he died a few years after retiring).

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