Fires

Emporia State University Special Collections and Archives, 2016

Background: Walter M. Andersen Collection, undated.

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Fire is a destructive force not to be underestimated. Structures that were built in the late 19th-century were especially prone to fire damage due to the vast amounts of flammable material used in construction. Kansas State Normal School and the College of Emporia both found this out the hard way. Oddly enough, both institutions lost their main administrative building to fire. While both buildings were unsalvageable, there were no casualties in either of the fires. KSN rebuilt its new administration building on the burned foundation of the old administration building and was completed in May of 1880. The new Administration Building was used until the construction of Plumb Hall was completed in 1917. C of E’s new administration building, Kenyon Hall, was partially completed in 1919, not being fully completed with the addition of its facade until 1929. Kenyon Hall still stands today as the apartment complex Kenyon Heights.

The first building on C of E’s campus, Stuart Hall, had its corner stone laid on July 26, 1885, with classes beginning inside a year later. The building wasn’t fully completed until 1890 after some issues with the foundation.

All that remained after the devastating early morning fire on December 2, 1915 was the bell, which narrowly missed President Culbertson and Dean Schaffner, who were retrieving college records on the ground floor when it fell. The cause of the fire is unknown, though it started in the southwest corner of the third story. Even with the complete devastation of the building, classes resumed the next afternoon with a sign on the burnt remains of Stewart Hall saying “C of E Fights.”

Ground broke for KSN’s Administration Building in April of 1872. The building was opened in 1873. A tornado took the roof off of the building in April of 1878, and just as the repairs were finished, fire struck.

The building burned early in the morning of October 26, 1878. As well as could be ascertained, the origin was in the spontaneous combustion of the coal which had been recently stored in the basement for the winter’s use. Classes resumed with a battle cry of “Hold of the Fort” after missing only one day of class.

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Andersen Collection, 1915.

Andersen Collection, undated.