$250,000 Fire in at Lumberton Department Store, Nov. 14, 1926

Quarter Million Dollar Fire at Lumberton. . . Department Store Is the Biggest Loser. . . Flames Originated in Storage House of L. H. Cardwell Store and Destroyed Hardware, Furniture, and Grocery Departments; Fayetteville Sends Firemen to Help

Lumberton, Nov. 13—Fire of unknown origin early today did damage estimated at more than $250,000 in the heart of the business section of the city.

The hardware, furniture and grocery departments of the L. H. Caldwell store were completely destroyed. The clothing department was greatly damaged by water and the shoe, dry goods and ready-to-wear departments sustained water losses.

In addition to these, the store of M. M. Rosier was a total loss and two other adjacent stores were damaged.

The blaze started in a storage house of the Caldwell store and spread rapidly. Calls for help were sent to Fayetteville, Maxton, and Fort Bragg.

A Fayetteville fire truck did effective work in checking the fire, but the Fort Bragg truck broke down 12 miles away and never arrived.

The loss is partially covered by insurance.

Editor’s Note—Store is called “Cardwell” in newspaper headline and “Caldwell” in article.

From the front page of the Goldsboro News, Sunday, Nov. 14, 1926

newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn93064755/1926-11-14/ed-1/seq-1/