The story
The devastating fire of May 3, 1908, in Jensen has been called the most destructive fire ever to have occurred in that town. The area located just north of Stuart was a thriving community in the early years of the 20th century. Its birth came with the arrival of John Laurence Jensen, an immigrant from Denmark who set up a pineapple plantation in 1881 and who is generally credited with the establishment of the small village. In a little more than 25 years there had been built a variety of stores, fish houses, a railroad train station, a post office, a Masonic Lodge, a boat building business, a bakery, a town hall and even a bowling alley, all along or near Commercial Street. As was the custom in many regions in those days, individuals and families often lived on the second floor of their businesses.
In the early morning hours, about 3 a.m. on that fateful Sunday, a fire broke out in the store of Cassie H. Munch & Company, the building owned by Charles H. Racey. What actually started the fire was never determined, but it has been surmised that perhaps a cigar thrown into a wooden box containing sawdust, which was used as a cuspidor, could have been the origin. About 5 a.m. the blaze was discovered and an alarm was sounded awakening the citizens.
With no town fire department, some of the people quickly established bucket brigades to douse the flames while others tried to retrieve merchandise, equipment and furnishings from businesses and homes. The Samuel J. Beardsley family, with two young daughters, lived above the Munch store, but were safely evacuated. The fire spread quickly through Munch’s store and then next door to the town hall which served as the community center. The furnishings were salvaged, but the building was a loss. A boat supply shop operated by Warren C. Sneden was soon an inferno.
On the other side of the Munch store the Jensen Trading Company operated by Ernest C. Tyndall was in flames. A small wooden building which had once served as a post office was in between the two stores, both buildings owned by George E. Coon. Five members of the Tyndall family, who lived above the Jensen Trading Company store on the second floor, evacuated their home, leaving all their possessions to be incinerated by the fire. Sparks shooting into the air were carried by the brisk winds, further advancing the flames.
Fire quickly consumed a warehouse owned by James Neal and then spread across the street to Jensen’s post office building which also housed a warehouse and marine supplies owned by Warren Sneden. On the second floor of the post office was the meeting room for the local Masonic Lodge, which unfortunately lost some of its valuable material. Along the main business street, flames continued to destroy buildings, all of which were constructed of wood.
A structure owned by Ransom R. Ricou containing a meat market operated by John G. Steinhauser and a large general store run by James Neal, was in flames. The Neal family whose household goods were burned, lived upstairs in that building, but butcher John Steinhauser’s home behind the meat market was saved. Near the Neal store were several two-hundred gallon gasoline containers which were rolled out of the path of the fire, but one drum, ignited by the sparks, created an explosion causing flames to shoot high into the air. A tenant, Frances R. Baker, in another Ricou building, lost his personal possessions. Douglas E. Austin’s store with boating supplies was destroyed as was the town’s bowling alley, operated by Gosper S. Tucker.
Along the railroad tracks, fire engulfed the train depot, box cars, the station platform and several hundred feet of track, the flames so intense the steel of the tracks were a twisted wreckage. Nearby the bakery building owned by William Fredricksen and operated by Charles S. Blocker was soon consumed by the inferno along with Blocker’s upstairs residence. A business office of N.G. Read & Company which dealt in pineapple wraps was destroyed. Even some of the nearby pineapple fields were reduced to ashes. The brick Planters Security Bank, however, located near the river, was spared.
Every able-bodied man desperately worked to extinguish the fire. Women and children, most still dressed in their night clothes, retreated to the highest point near the school as the battle against the fire continued for hours. The magnificent three-story Al Fresco Hotel, a 50-room establishment, built by John Jensen in 1893, escaped the fire. (It had been sold to John T. Stanley in the early 1900s and Ransom R. Ricou purchased it from him in 1909. Ironically, the beautiful hotel burned to the ground on Oct. 17, 1910, in another fire.) Many homes had been saved from the flames, but the business section between the Indian River and beyond the railroad tracks was in ruins.
The loss of merchandise, household items and buildings totaled over $60,000, a sizable sum in 1908. Some individuals had fire insurance to cover damages while others like James Neal and Warren C. Sneden, did not. The Beardsley, Tyndall, Neal and Blocker families who had lost their homes were taken in by caring and generous people in the community. Neighboring towns also assisted the residents of Jensen in the weeks that followed as provisions of food and other basic goods were in short supply. Brick and concrete structures soon replaced the burned ruins. Fortunately, there were no casualties in the great fire of 1908 and most of those who suffered property losses remained in Jensen to rebuild the community to make it even stronger and better than before.
