Saturday marked the 250th anniversary of the founding of Dauphin, a small community on the banks of the Susquehanna River northwest of Harrisburg.
It was a big celebration with food and fireworks, but on Sunday, a fire ripped through their historical society building, destroying as much as 85 percent of their photographs, artifacts and archives.
“It’s a terrible tragedy,” said Liz Rodda, president of the Dauphin-Middle Paxton Historical Society. She stood outside of the charred remains of the building Sunday as fire crews continued battling the remnants of the large fire, the smell of smoke overwhelming on the autumn morning. “We’re trying to pull whatever archives we can now from the building.”
The fire broke out early Sunday at the historical society’s building on Church Street.
No one was injured, but Dauphin-Middle Paxton Fire Company Chief Bob Rusbatch said the two-story brick building is a total loss.
A Sunday-morning fire gutted the building containing the Dauphin Middle Paxton Historical Society in Dauphin. 10-17-21
While the cause of fire is still under investigation, Rusbatch said it appears to have started in a kitchen on the first floor, then spread through the rest of the building.
The fire spread while crews battled it, and Rusbatch said he pulled firefighters out from the inside to attack the blaze with ladder trucks and hoses from the outside before sending them back in to not only fight the fire’s remnants, but to salvage what they could.
“It’s a great loss to the community,” Rusbatch said. “They had a lot of records that go back to when the town was started. It’s a lot that will never be recovered.”
A Sunday-morning fire gutted the building containing the Dauphin Middle Paxton Historical Society in Dauphin. 10-17-21
Later Sunday morning, crews were still at work as smoke rose from some hot spots in the gutted building, and members historical society, volunteers from the Lion’s Club and nearby residents worked to rescue the history of their town, placing charred photographs, binders full of records and artifacts like typewriters and World War I helmets on fold-out tables nearby.
It will take some time to tell for sure what what they’ve lost, but it’s significant, and it’s devastating, Rodda said.
A Sunday-morning fire gutted the building containing the Dauphin Middle Paxton Historical Society in Dauphin. 10-17-21
The building had operated as a school from the 1860s until the 1970s before becoming the historical society’s museum.
It’s been a place where residents have donated their photos and heirlooms, commemorating the history of their community, for generations.
And for the fire to come the day after their 250th anniversary celebration makes the loss that much more painful. It’s the day after quite a few residents took -- what turned out to be -- their final tour of the museum.
The good news is that many of the photographs had been scanned and saved digitally, so not all is lost.
And, even on the morning of the fire, Rodda said the historical society plans to rebuild, and as she looked around at quick responding firefighters and the residents who came to the historical society’s aid, she said she knows that is possible.
“We will begin again,” she said.