About the Great Fire of 1922
The fateful day of December 1, 1922 will long be remembered as a dark day in the history of New Bern, NC. Several unrelated events transpired concurrently to produce a dreadful fire that destroyed one-fourth of the town and devastated the Black community.Imagine this scenario:
- A championship football game in Raleigh drew roughly 300 people – from the city for the day. Many of them were firefighters.
- High winds started blowing eastward toward the river. Some residents, remembering the day, claimed those gusts at 70 miles per hour.
- An 8:30 fire at Rowland Lumber Company, the state’s largest lumber yard, drew the entire firefighting force in town, leaving no back-up for subsequent fires.
- A chimney fire on Kilmarnock Street started about an hour later. By the time firefighters finally got equipment there from the Rowland fire, three houses were ablaze and beyond control.
Today we remember this event with respect and honor those who were most affected.
