Editing Gridley, Illinois (section)

===Fire of 1901===
On Saturday, May 4, 1901, a fire destroyed most of downtown Gridley. The afternoon of May 3 had been hot and windy. At 3:40 in the afternoon smoke was seen rising from the alley behind Cohn's store. There had been a serious fire in July 1891, and the town seemed well prepared, with several [[cistern]]s and a dedicated force of volunteer fire fighters. Soon stores along both sides of Center Street were engulfed in flame. Water was pumped from several cisterns and then hoses were run to the flooded pit of the tile factory. All of the able bodied people in town, and many from the surrounding countryside, joined in the fire fighting effort. The state bank and many other structures burned to the ground. A message was telegraphed to [[Peoria, Illinois|Peoria]] for help, but before it could arrive the blaze had subsided. Damage was estimated at $100,000, a severe blow for a small town. Rebuilding quickly began.<ref>Klopfenstein, Perry, ''Foundations Strong: A History of Gridley, Illinois'' (Fort Scott, Kansas: Sekan, 1991) pp. 102-105.</ref>