I was killing time yesterday, thinking about "all things Meriden" when I decided to Google the "Cherry Street Warehouse Fire." (As TPS pointed out on p. 60, Vol. 1, no mention was made of the Parker Gun Works in the media after reporting the event, one of the biggest fires in Meriden history). At the time, the building was being used as a warehouse by the International Silver Company.
After a few false hits under the sidebars, I came upon this spectacular and frightening photo. Go to the website;
www.CtCameriaEye.com and hit the toggle at the top of the page titled "The Fire Service." The run your vertical cursor slide down your screen to about the middle of the page of selected photos until you come to "Meriden CT - International Silver Company - Feb. 26, 1980."
If I have my bearings correct, the people watching the fire are standing on the railroad tracks looking through the fence past what would have been the location of the forge shop, past the engineering shed and are looking at the side wing of the factory where it joins the mainstem of the building. At 50 feet wide and 300 feet long, the mainstem and this wing must have made for quite a sight when they became, as firemen like to report, "fully engaged."
The apartment building just visible to the right is a fair distance behind the gunworks, and apparently sustained no damage. The lone remaining building of the Parker Gun Works stands to the left of this photo field, down along the railroad tracks. What a meager legacy to the wonderful things that went on there!
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