Editor’s note: The following story appeared in The Florida Times-Union and Citizen on May 4, 1901.
In the face of a conflagration literally appalling in its destruction that began in this city at 12:30 p.m. yesterday, it is yet, of course, impossible to state with accuracy the amount of loss or the insurance.
The plans of the city, as prepared by the city surveyor, shows that 130 blocks were burned up and a part of one other block. The estimate of residences to the block in the residential district of the city is ten, and in the business section of the city the blocks were built solid.