I'm glad it wasn't as bad as a previous
fire at that location.
In case you haven't heard, there was a
fire at Marquette's Pine Ridge apartment complex yesterday--
Construction equipment on the
building's roof, nine stories above the ground, caught on fire, and
soon the roof of the entire north side of the building was on fire.
Firefighters from Marquette city, Marquette Township, and Chocolay
Township spent almost an hour putting the fire out, and the hundreds
of people who live in the building were temporarily housed in the
Superior Dome until it was safe to go back.
Luckily, no one was hurt.
Around 120 years ago that same corner
was also the site of a fire, this time a fire that consumed
Marquette's first real high school. In 1875 Morgan Hewitt, Peter
White's son-in-law, gave Marquette land to build a new high school at
what was then an empty part of the city, the corner of Pine &
Ridge. Designed by D. Fred Charlton, the school was one of
Marquette's original sandstone gems--
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| picture courtesy Marquette Regional History Center |
It served the city well until the turn
of the 20th century, when like many of Marquette's classic
buildings it fell victim to fire, totally destroying the structure
While at the same time providing a great photo backdrop for many city residents who decided to visit the wreckage, decked out in their Sunday finest.
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| picture courtesy Marquette Regional History Center |
While at the same time providing a great photo backdrop for many city residents who decided to visit the wreckage, decked out in their Sunday finest.
 |
| picture courtesy Marquette Regional History Center |
What remained of the building was torn
down, replaced by the Howard-Frobel school complex, which stood until
the early 60s. Once that building was torn down (it actually didn't
catch fire, unlike most lost Marquette architectural gems) the lot
was used to construct the Pine Ridge Apartments, the building that
caught fire yesterday.
Thankfully, though, building materials
and firefighting techniques have improved quite a bit in the past 120
years, which means that yesterday Pine Ridge did not suffer the same
fate as another building that sat on that very same spot.
Thankfully.
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