City Equipment Shed Burns To The Ground

 

1933 Fire Raze Wasatch Academy Hall

On April 4, 1933, the Administration Hall was destroyed by fire. Classes were housed temporarily for the remainder of the year.

The following News Articles come from the Mt. Pleasant Pyramid April 1933

Moving Picture Comes to Mt. Pleasant ~ 1914 ~~~~Did the Elite turn into the Kinema?

The Elite Theater was built in 1913.

In the late 1920s, L.C. and Nada Lund changed the name of the movie house to Star Theater.  Their son, Truxton, later took over the family business and changed the name Kinema. 

The theater, which was considered fireproof when it was built, burned down in 1990.

 Did you Know?  Kinema  is  the British Version of Cinema.    and there are or were hundreds of Kinema's across the United States and world. 

The word ‘cinema’ comes from ‘Kinema’-toscope and is derived from the Greek word kinema-matos meaning the science of pure motion.

  ..And I always thought that it was a cute expression of    "Kinna Ma Go to the Movies?"

Our Relic Home on the far left.

December 25th, 1912 the Elite Theatre, now the Star, presented their first show. Prior to this, some show places had been operat­ing, among them the one on State Street, conducted by C. Purring­ton.  History of Mt. Pleasant, Hilda Madsen Longsdorf p. 197 

Kinema Fire

Early Mt. Pleasant City Photos Found at City Hall

The top photo is if Main Street.  The building with the sign says Chicago....... (can't read the rest)

Center Photo is the Old North Ward Church

Bottom photo is Main Street after a fire or flood.

The Town Bell (Bells) To Warn the Residents ~ Fire, Indians, Curfew, School, Lost Child and More.

 The following are excerpts taken from Hyrum Fechser's biography "Your Family and Mine ~ The Fechsers"
The town bell was ringing furiously, something was wrong, men, women and children were in the street, every one asking these very questions, "What's wrong?"  "Maybe a Fire, maybe a child lost".  "Maybe Indians".

The town bell was really the church bell and the town was now about four years old.  .......
John Fechser, the miller (Hyrum's father) was in the crowd. He had come here from Germany, where he had learned the milling business.

...........

During the past ten years there had been a lot of Indian trouble, they were reported to be in Pigeon Hollow near Ephraim.  Uncle John and some other men were sent to head the Indians off, he was the only one to return, the rest were kiled by the Indians, some emigrants were coming to Fairview, and were way laid by these Indians; all were killed.  Today at Fairview (Pioneer Cemetery) you can see an old plank head stone with this inscription, THE GIVENS FAMILY, KILLED BY THE INDIANS 1869.

GIVEN FAMILY MASSACRE In the spring of 1865 John Given and his wife Eliza and their four children, John Jr., Mary, Anna, and Martha settled in the meadowland about 110 feet west of here. They built a cabin and willow shanty. Charles Brown and Charles W. Leah were helping them plow and plant crops. Early in the morning of May 27th they were attacked by a band of Indians. Brown and Leah escaped and ran six miles for help which came too late. The entire Given family was massacred and their cattle and household furnishings taken. The murdered people were buried in Fairview.


Editor note:  The Hamilton School Bell served the same purpose as the church bell in later years.  I well remember it ringing  at 8:00 a.m. in the morning, telling you that you only had one hour to get to school.  It would also ring at noon and at 9:00 p.m. for curfew as well as ring when there was a fire.  That bell now sits in front of our Blacksmith Shop and Relic Home as a DUP marker. 

 

Business Block Threatened ~ February 1954 ~Newspaper Article ~ Elva Seely Guyman Collection

                                                                                                                incomplete

shared by Betty Gunderson Woodbury

Larsen Building Fire ~ February 26, 1954 ~ from the Elva Guyman Collection

CURRENT !!! Lightning Storm - Burns Down Top Flight Academy

Lightning burns Mt. Pleasant school
By Bruce Mehew

Published on September 15, 2009 at 07:05AM

Mid-Utah Radio http://midutahradio.com/

(MT. PLEASANT) – A lightning strike burned down a small Mt. Pleasant school Monday afternoon. Reports say that at about 1pm, the lightning hit and tore through the roof of the Top Flight Academy, a school for troubled boys. A dozen staff and boys were in the building at the time of the incident when the two-story structure caught fire during a heavy downpour on Monday. Everyone in the building were able to get out before the structure burned to the ground. The owner of the building, Cindi Sainsbury, said the lightning shook the whole building and exploded a four-square foot cavity in the roof, which collapsed the roof and gutted the entire building. About a dozen firefighters from two agencies battled the blaze. The staff and boys will be staying temporarily in a nearby building until more permanent arrangements can be made. The academy is a licensed therapeutic residential treatment center for boys 12 to 17.