Town Hall Fire of 1893

On November 3, 1893 fire destroyed Billerica's town hall, the pillared Greek Revival building of 1845 on the west side of the Common at the corner of Concord Road. The Old Town Hall had replaced the Town House of 1797 and for nearly fifty years had been the seat of the town meeting and the town offices; in 1861 the meetings that raised Billerica's first Civil War volunteers were held there. The bronze plaque on the north wall of the portico of the present building records the loss: "First Town Hall built in 1798. Second built in 1845 near spot of present Town Hall; it was destroyed by fire Nov. 3, 1893."

The old hall was insured for only $1,500. Until a new one could be built, the town's business moved down the road to Gardner Parker Hall, the former Centre schoolhouse on River Street, which the Billerica Building Association had made over into a public hall in 1892. Town meetings, the Precinct One polls of the state election of November 1894 and the annual meeting of March 1895 were all warned to Gardner Parker Hall, and the Billerica Historical Society was organized there on October 16, 1894.

A committee of J. Nelson Parker, Frederic S. Clark and Joseph Jaquith was chosen to report on a new hall and its location. At the annual meeting of March 1894 it reported that it had "visited various towns, talked with numerous architects" and wanted a modern building with a hall for 500 people, a supper room, rooms for the town officers with a fire-proof vault, and "a lockup with two cells." The meeting gave it $750 for competitive plans and asked the Legislature for leave to borrow beyond the town's debt limit, which came as Chapter 310 of the Acts of 1894: up to $30,000 for as long as twenty-five years.

On July 16, 1894 the committee recommended the plans of Warren and Bacon of Boston. A brick building could be had for about $32,000; wood would have saved about $5,200, but the committee argued for brick, saying that if the town built of brick "it is not likely that the youngest voter in Town will ever be called upon to build or pay for another Town Hall. This, of course, is leaving out of consideration the possibility of fire." The meeting voted unanimously to build of brick, accepted the special act 73 to 0, voted the bonds, put "the money received by the Town from insurance upon the old Town Hall" toward the new one, and made Parker, Clark and Jaquith the building committee. It also took two adjoining lots to enlarge the old town hall lot; the Selectmen, John E. Rowell, Edward B. Haskell and Franklin Jaquith, settled the damages by paying $75 to Frederic A. Morey and $1,100 to the heirs of Mary B. Parker, "unsatisfactory to all parties." The four per cent bonds sold in October 1894 for $31,840.67. The same meeting voted $1,000 for a building for the town teams and the fire department at the Centre. C. H. Nelson was the contractor.

The new Billerica Town Hall (1895) was dedicated on November 8, 1895, two years after the fire, "finished at a cost of $37,190." The Rev. Minot J. Savage of Boston gave the address before a full hall, and the day closed with a dinner in the banquet hall and a ball. The Selectmen wrote that the year had been "the most eventful one for a long time in the history of the town," and that the new building, "with the Union Hall and Talbot's Memorial Building at North Billerica," let the town "compare very favorably with other county towns in regard to public halls." The brick hall held the town offices until 1989 and is now the front of the Billerica Public Library. Fire reached it only once, in July 1993, when lightning set its cupola on fire.

People

• John N. Parker: Member of the committee that reported on a new town hall after the fire and of the building committee chosen July 16, 1894.
• Frederic S. Clark: Member of the new town hall committee and of the building committee of 1894-95.
• John E. Rowell: Selectman who with his colleagues settled the land damages for enlarging the town hall lot in 1894.
• Edward B. Haskell: Selectman who signed the 1894-95 report on the land takings for the new town hall.
• Franklin Jaquith: Selectman in 1894-95 who signed the report on the land takings for the new town hall.

References

1. Billerica Annual Report, year ending Feb. 1895, p. 55: March 1894 meeting, Art. 26, report of the committee on a new Town Hall and location; Art. 27, committee to seek a special act for bonds.
2. Same report, pp. 65-66: July 16, 1894 meeting; committee report favoring brick, "leaving out of consideration the possibility of fire"; Chapter 310 of the Acts of 1894 accepted 73 to 0.
3. Same report, pp. 68-70: insurance on the old Town Hall voted to the new hall; land taken from the Parker heirs and F. A. Morey; building committee; $1,000 for a building for town teams and fire department.
4. Same report, Selectmen, p. 6: land damages of $75 to F. A. Morey and $1,100 to the heirs of Mary B. Parker, "unsatisfactory to all parties."
5. Same report, p. 40: new Town Hall account, Warren and Bacon plans, C. H. Nelson contractor payments; p. 33: Town Hall bonds sold October 1894 for $31,840.67.
6. Same report, p. 51: Billerica Historical Society organized Oct. 16, 1894 at Gardner Parker Hall; warrants for town meetings and elections at Gardner Parker Hall.
7. Billerica Annual Report, year ending Feb. 1896, p. 83: new Town Hall dedicated Nov. 8 [1895], cost $37,190, address by Rev. Minot J. Savage; p. 3 (Selectmen): completion and dedication of the new hall.
8. Billerica Center Historical Walking Tour (Girl Scout Silver Award project, Billerica Public Library): the 1895 town hall, now the library; lightning set the cupola on fire on July 7, 1993.