Fire in Eldorado!

The Updike Elevator in Eldorado, Nebraska on fire, April 30, 1914

Unknown Eldorado residents looking at the rubble from the fire.

Omaha Daily Bee, May 1, 1914

Updike Elevator at Eldorado Destroyed

HARVARD, Neb., April 30. - (Special Telegram.)- The Updike elevator and lumber yard at Eldorado, seven miles northeast of this city on the Northwestern road, was entirely destroyed by fire this afternoon with a loss exceeding $30,000. The blaze was discovered in the elevator between 12 and 1 o'clock while the men were at dinner. The elevator contained several thousand bushels of grain. The manager had been cleaning up and shipping. A considerable quantity of wheat was also stored in the building.

The wind carried the fire to the lumber yard and that was soon beyond control, there being no fire fighting apparatus in the village. Much other property narrowly escaped and was only saved by desperate efforts.

Updike Elevator can be seen in the background of this photo of the Eldorado schoolhouse.

These photos were possibly taken by someone in the Negley family who lived in Eldorado. All three are postcard photos that were never mailed. Eldorado's peak population was in 1910 with 100 residents. Eldorado's Post office opened in 1888 and closed in 1943. For a while there was a general store owned and run by the Negley Brothers Bill and Cal, but I haven't learned when. My Second Great Grandparents both served as Justice of the Peace, Josiah Negley from 1912 until his death in 1922, and Sarah Negley from then until 1925. Today, the land in the above photo is nearly all a cornfield.