
Submitted by Robin Hilborn, Bruce County Historical Society
In January 2025 wildfires, driven by hurricane-force winds, invaded Los Angeles, destroying over 17,000 structures.
Over a century ago towns in Bruce County suffered similar, if much smaller, destruction. The Southampton fire of 1886 consumed over 50 buildings on High Street. The 1888 fire in Chesley destroyed 46 businesses on the main street. The same year, in Ripley—27 buildings razed on Queen and Huron streets. Fires in downtown Walkerton and Tiverton were equally destructive.
Repeatedly in the late 19th century, huge fires gutted the business sections of Bruce County towns. The pattern repeated: wooden buildings were built close together and flames driven by strong winds leapt from one building to the next.
The most devastating fire in Southampton history struck on November 4, 1886. It started in a building just north of the Walker House. Driven by a fierce wind, the flames jumped Grosvenor St. to the hotel opposite and spread eastward from building to building for two blocks along the north side of High St., finally burning the Anglican Church. The south side of High was untouched. The inferno devoured over 50 buildings, over 30 families were made homeless and the loss was at least $60,000. Towns all over Ontario collected $8,000 in aid, along with blankets, clothing and food. During the great fire, train conductor Lillies entered a burning house and at great risk to himself saved a child in its cradle from being burnt to death.
The county town, Walkerton, was not spared. The burning of the Blair foundry in 1871 had persuaded the townspeople to prevent future disasters by buying a hand-operated fire engine from the town of Brantford. It was, however, unable to douse the big fire of May 28, 1877. Starting in the early afternoon in a stable and driven by a high wind, the fire swept over the business section, destroying 42 buildings. Undaunted, the citizens set to work and replaced the losses with more substantial buildings.
On June 9, 1888 occurred the great fire of Chesley, which destroyed most of the downtown core. Historian Bruce Krug interviewed Charles Smellie of Conc. 2, Elderslie in 1951, who said he saw Main St. all ablaze, both sides of the street burning. He said that it was humorous yet pathetic to see people running about with only a few clothes to cover them, such as a pair of trousers and with their faces and arms covered with black soot.
In 1948 Krug interviewed C.J. Halliday of Chesley, who was 12 at the time of the fire. After the fire C.J. and his family dug in the ruins of their house and salvaged some coins from their penny bank. In some of the stores the coins from the tills were all melted together. Kegs of nails were melted together.
The fire destroyed 46 businesses on the main street. Afterward the Chesley Fire Brigade was formed and the village bought a steam-powered fire engine. The destroyed wooden structures were replaced by brick and stone buildings and Chesley bounced back.
Fire attacked Ripley on July 13, 1888. Flames were seen pouring out of James McLeod’s hardware store. From there a strong wind blew the flames to adjoining homes and businesses. Upwards of 100 men with pails endeavoured to put out the fire, but in vain. Buildings on both sides of Queen Street burned one after another, followed by more on Huron Street. In all about 27 buildings were destroyed, for a loss of about $50,000.
In the fall of 1897 an extensive fire destroyed most of the shops in the business section of Tiverton. In view of this severe loss, the county council refunded to the village the amount of the county rates for that year.
The Bruce Municipal Telephone System opened in 1911. From a switchboard in Underwood, trunk lines ran to Tiverton and Kincardine, and to Port Elgin and Paisley. There could be up to 17 phones on the same line. Each person on a party line would know a call was for them by a distinctive combination of long and short rings. A continuous ring, however, meant there was a fire in the area. (BMTS told people not to listen in on the party line; the injunction was widely ignored.)
Most places have survived by rebuilding their burnt-out business sections, but in one instance a massive fire wiped out two entire towns.
At Baie du Dore in Bruce township two villages grew side by side on the lake, Malta and Port Bruce. Malta was surveyed in 1856 by Capt. Alexander Murray McGregor, and soon gained a gristmill, a sawmill, a post office and a population of 125. Next door, and in the same year, George Butchart established Port Bruce and opened a hotel. Its population grew to 150.
Both villages prospered until the fateful day, July 4, 1862, when a fire fanned by high winds wiped out both villages, leaving only a few houses. The residents lost everything and had no desire to rebuild. As a result, businesses and most of the population of the two villages moved to Underwood or Inverhuron.
These examples of destructive fires come from the book “The Bruce”, published by the Bruce County Historical Society.