Henry Raymond
Fairfax News => Current News & Events => Topic started by: MikeF9 on October 23, 2010, 10:58:34 AM
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There is a special section in the Saturday Oct. 23 issue of the St. Albans Messenger.
Publisher Emerson Lynn asked all county historical societies to submit information about their organizations and a 250-500 story about an important event in town.
After contacting Fairfax members, it was decided to go with the 1941 BFA fire. The write up, along with a couple of before and after pictures are there along with society info.
Came out pretty good.
For those who can't get the Messenger, here's the article about the fire:
FAIRFAX’S BELLOWS FREE ACADEMY RISES FROM THE ASHES
It was a cold, clear night on January 17, 1941. Many townspeople were at the Grange Hall on Main Hill watching high school basketball between BFA-Fairfax and Milton. The girls’ game was first and had ended, and now the boys were playing.
Janet (Stewart) Geer was 10 years old and was at the game that night.
“We heard an explosion, but weren’t sure what it was,” she remembers. Suddenly school janitor Herb Shepardson came running in.
“THE SCHOOL’S ON FIRE!” he shouted, and the game ended.
People rushed out and headed to the 39 year old building. It was fully engulfed in flames. Armed with a hand pumper that the town owned, people tried to put out the fire. Milton Fire Department arrived and made an effort, but the building was completely gutted. Everything was lost-books, school equipment, desks, student projects, everything.
Bellows Free Academy was chartered in 1903 and built with money granted by Fairfax-born Hiram Bellows. He also left money to St. Albans to build a school, also called BFA.
BFA-Fairfax housed 300 students, and the building had three floors. On the third floor was an auditorium. Geer remembers they were fortunate that things were not worse.
“We were all standing there watching the fire and remarking how LAST Friday night there was a program up in the third floor auditorium.”
There has been much speculation as the cause for the explosion and subsequent fire, but no real cause was found. It was thought that the coal-burning boiler exploded, but workers were able to get the boiler up and running a couple days later. There had been a delivery of coal in the previous couple of days, and there was the thought that coal gases ignited and exploded. Nothing was ever proven.
Makeshift classes continued at locations all over town. The homes of the principal and superintendent, located next door to the school, were used. The local churches and even private homes were used to house grades 1-12. Donations of books and supplies came from schools in the local area.
The school was re-built, and opened in the spring of 1942. Some bricks were salvaged from the fire. Evidence of that is visible in the gymnasium. Blackened bricks dot the walls as a reminder of the original building. Since that fire, four additions were built, in 1960, 1973, 1989, and 1998. BFA-Fairfax is the only preschool through grade 12 school on one campus in Franklin County, and one of a handful left in the state.
In 1973, a $25,000 grant was given to the school and town to form the Fairfax Community Library, housing both the town and school libraries at the school. Today, that library is considered one of the best in the state.
And here's the info about the society:
Fairfax Historical Society
PO Box 145
1181 Main Street
Fairfax, VT 05454
www.vtgrandpa.com/fhs
President: Michael Cain
Vice President: Colleen Steen
Secretary: Barb Duval
Treasurer: Elaine Kirkpatrick
Board of Directors-Lucien Hayes, Paul Lavallee, Paddy Shea
Museum Hours :
Summer session-July and August-Sundays 2-4pm
Fall session-Last two Sundays in September/first two Sundays in October 2-4pm.
We are also open by appointment from April –October.
The focus of the Fairfax Historical Society is to mark and record important events and the history of the town and area. As a “teaching” museum, we welcome school children and give programs about the evolution of changes in the structure of the town, and the lifestyles of its residents. For adults, we trigger memories of days gone by with displays of Fairfax’s past, photographs, and scrapbooks.