Where the West Blocton Fire Started

The fire started the morning of Tuesday, July 12th, 1927, and then spread rapidly due to a very strong wind that swept it through the business district.

Jerry remembers the fire as originating in the Ben L. Edmonds Dry Cleaning Plant when a tub of gasoline overheated and caught fire. The Blocton Enterprise dated July 14th, 1927 said it started in the Pipes Pressing Shop. There seems to be agreement, however, that it started when gasoline or chemicals overheated and caught fire in some sort of dry cleaning establishment.

At any rate, the building it started in was at the end of the block shown here, and is now Jack's Pharmacy (the red brick building at the corner). The building was a wooden frame building, and after the fire all that remained was the frame wall on the far end of the building. From here the fire rushed up the street, aided by a very strong wind from the west.

The Silver Moon Cafe that Jerry worked in as a child was located to the west, and across the street from the dry cleaners.

The vacant lot next to the white brick building in the photo could possibly been the location of the Manring Hotel.


Here is a photo taken on July 12, 1927, the day of the fire, by Mrs. Coleman Parker (Lelia Payne Turner). It shows the ruins of the Manring Hotel, where Jerry worked as a young boy.