100 Years Ago

Herald of Jan. 3, 1923

Blair Four, near Williamsburg, was the scene of the most costly fire in the history of the community on Saturday night (Dec 30) when the general store owned by Blair R. Bice of Martinsburg was destroyed. The building, owned by the Blair Limestone Company, contained in addition to the store, the post office and two apartments. Two families were rendered homeless, one being that of Howard Swartz, manager of the store. The other family was that of the Theodore residence, an employee of the company.

Not only was the utmost of the goods in the Bice store and most of the furniture and furnishings of the two families burned, but the contents of the post office room, including stamps and mail orders to the amount of $250, in addition to a lot of mail, was destroyed. The fire of unknown origin had started in the cellar, and before anything could be done the two story frame building was doomed. The fire loss was more than $15,000, partially covered by insurance.