Jeanne Newby
We have discussed some major fires that occurred in downtown Webb City – fires that have taken almost an entire city block, beautiful buildings and expensive contents. The lost personal memories of those fires lends to the community shock.
Let’s take a look at the Webb/Burgner Home, located on Webb Street where Broadway heading west runs into what used to be the Webb/Burgner Home and later the Webb City Register Newspaper. That home was built for John C. Webb when he first established the city of Webb City. His original home was a log cabin and was located just south of his mansion on the northwest corner of Webb and Broadway Streets.
Webb passed away April 13, 1883, and his mansion passed to his daughter, Mary Susan Webb, who was married to J.M. Burgner. This beautiful home that signified the importance of John C. Webb became the home of the Webb City Register and served that newspaper company well. On July 12, 1919, the home was being used as storage by the J.T. Steele Undertaking Co. when fire broke out and destroyed an important piece of history. The land was purchased by Larry Larsen, who then built the 66 & 77 Cafe to accommodate the dinner needs of those attending the Civic Theater and the Dickinson Theaters.
On the northeast corner of Broadway and Liberty streets stood the Safeway grocery store. It was a nice looking grocery store. The night it burned, many spectators commented on the continual popping as cans exploded from the heat. The store was not rebuilt, and Hedge-Lewis Funeral Home now owns the property and uses it as a parking lot.
Karbe’s was located at 205 N. Main St. but moved out to Madison Street. Sadly, on Dec. 25, 1960, there was a fire. The building burned but was rebuilt and later became the Piggly Wiggly Store. While it was Karbe’s, a reader informed us that it was owned by L.L. “Lyle” Temple, and he fought the Blue Law, which prohibited stores and service stations from being open on Sundays. The reader said that when Temple would open his store on Sunday, Chief Earl Bunch would show up and arrest him. Temple would immediately post his own bond, return to his store and remain open the rest of the day. (I guess he made enough money to cover the expense of the bond!)
How about the blast that rang through the air during the summer of 1970 when Ray Holland’s service station on Madison Street blew up? I remember being told that as the fueling truck was filling Ray’s tanks, a spark caused the explosion, and soon after the heat caused the second tank to explode. Those explosions were felt all over town. And the heat was felt up to several blocks away. Ray rebuilt his station and business continued.
Fire has been an enemy to Webb City, but she has survived. We just need a gentle reminder every once in a while as to what used to be there before the fire.
