Great Fire: A sign of rebirth

Continued from last week

Following hours of fighting the fire and creating firebreaks with dynamite, Stevens Point’s “Fire King No. 1” arrived via a Wisconsin Central flatbed.

Although the equipment was capable of producing 125 pounds of water pressure, the hoses were not long enough to reach the water source.

Neighboring departments also responded to lend a hand, but the fire continued to devour the business district and neighboring homes until late in the afternoon.

Surrounding towns sent trainloads of aid following the fire, as Marshfield residents sifted through the city’s remains.

As the city of Marshfield lay in ruins the morning of June 28, 1887, residents sat reeling from the events of the previous day.

The massive fire had left many without homes, many without businesses and some without both.

Residents now looked for leadership from someone, anyone who could tell them where to go from there.

That leadership came promptly at 6 a.m. that morning as Major William H. Upham stood before his flagpole.

With each pull of the halyard, Upham placed his strength and determination.

He would rebuild his factory, and he would rebuild right here.

The upright and steadfast actions of Major Upham, owner of the Upham Manufacturing Company and employer to many of the families in the Marshfield area, set a precedence for a damaged and disheartened city.

Without Upham’s actions, the city may not have seen the future that lay ahead.

“Within a year after the fire, the major part of the burnt district had been rebuilt and at the present time there is no trace of this disaster, save in the improved character of the new buildings over those destroyed and the general better appearance of the city — now the finest,” an Oct. 2, 1890, Marshfield News and Wisconsin Hub article stated.

“The recuperative powers of the city and the energy with which individually and as a community they set to work to repair their losses, and the consequent strides by which the city regained and passed her former eminence, is one of the most surprising chapters in the annals of any people.

“The great fire modernized the city and rendered possible the uniform elegance of the entire business and much of the residence portion of the city.

“Its lessons and benefits were valuable as it taught prudence and supplanted the frame structures with the magnificent brick ones of today.”