Volume 11 , Issue 13

1918 Fire In Alva OK - Antlers Cafe

Kirt T. says, "There was a fireman in Alva from 1919 to 1923 that kept a scrap book that recently sold on ebay. Dr. Meyer bought it and brought it by the the Fire Station for me to copy. The attachments are from the scrap book. The picture is a fire that occured in 1918 and just happens to be Antlers Cafe where the murder of Joe Riles took place March 5, 1917, a year earlier."

If you look close at this 1918 photograph, it appears that the two-story building on the right is the Monfort Drugs building that stood on the NW corner of Barnes & College Avenue, in Alva, Oklahoma. I have an old photo that another reader sent me quite awhile back of the Monfort Drugs fire in the 1950s. You can see similar characteristics of that same building in each photo.

Also ... it was interesting to see how close the towns people and onlookers were allowed to view the burned remains of the Antlers Cafe and wooden buildings on either side.

In 1918, was Share Bros Store still on the westside of the square? If so, was it the brick building on the right?

Notice the horse drawn wagon with the word "PHONE" printed on the side of wagon. Then there is Norris Jewelry. It looks like Antlers Cafe and the building between Monfort Drugs and the cafe got the most fire damage, but the three wood-framed businesses looked to be beyond repair.

Thanks, Kirt, for sharing the photo and information!
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