Elliot Street, in the heart of Brattleboro’s downtown, was hit with a devastating fire on this day in 1914.

The Grange Block, home to the well known Vermont Wheel Club, caught fire. The three story building was one of the largest buildings on the north side of Elliot street.

Freezing temeperatures hindered firefighters. Once the fire was extinguished, all that remained were partial walls and icicles. The front wall looked like a movie facade. The side and back walls were broken skeletons and the roof was completely gone.

The next year a new building was completed and the Vermont Wheel Club returned to Elliot Street.

Photo courtesy Before Our Time: A Pictorial Memoir of Brattleboro, Vermont from 1830-1930 by Harold Barry, Richard Michelman, Richard Mitchell and Richard Wellman.