The cabinet maker's workshop highlighed with the arrow is where the 1868 fire originated, now hosts Hallensteins on the corner of Church St and Great Southern Rd, now Stafford St.
Picture this… It is a scorching afternoon in December 1868. The district had been rattled by snow storms and a severe flood the same year. And before they could make it to Chirstmas celebrations, they saw the year out in the worst fire in Timaru History. On the corner of Church and Stafford Streets, where Hallenstein Brothers Clothing Store stands today, a young boy is melting glue over a fire in the back of a cabinetmaker’s workshop. For what ever reason, he steps away, just for a moment and before he knows it the wood shavings on the floor catch fire. The boy runs for help. They rushe to a neaby water tank, only to find the tap handle is missing. It had been removed because people were stealing water for their horses. No water. No fire brigade. Only a hot nor'wester fanning the growing blaze. The fire takes hold....
Timaru’s only defence was the Hook and Ladder Company, a crew of 32 volunteers armed with buckets, ladders and long poles with hooks. They did what they could, pulling down buildings in a desperate attempt to stop the fire spreading, but it was futile.
Within just three hours, 38 wooden buildings were destroyed. Three quarters of the central business district was reduced to ashes by 6.30 pm. No human lives were lost, but the town’s commercial heart had been gutted. Many people only makde it out with the clothes on their backs. Was well as their workplace, many of the properties were also peoples homes. Many were not insured.
Just eleven years earlier, Timaru had a European population of only four, the Williams Family living in a 1851 cottage at the foot of George Street by the shore. By 1868, it had grown to around 1000, with more than 1,200 dwellings. It was a growing coastal town, a harbour link, connecting South Canterbury to the world.
All that work, all those dreams, gone in one devistating afternoon.
Timaru As The Pioneers Knew It: An Old Photograph Showing The Intersection of Stafford, Church And Strathallan Streets. Supplement to the Auckland Weekly News, 11 July 1934, p.40. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19340711-40-02. No known copyright restrictions
One such loss was felt by merchant Richard Turnbull. He ran a store with his business partner David Clarkson in a wooden building where The Oxford restaurant now stands. Their premises and contents were consumed by the fire, but for Richard the pain literally hit home, his family house stood next door, and was also lost in the inferno. Imagine losing your livelihood and your home in the same moment.
A couple of doors up, the Timaru Herald office was also caught in the flames. The fire devoured the building. In the chaos, the editor’s loyal dog refused to flee, searching desperately for his master. The faithful pooch died. The newspaper staff bravely threw what they could out of windows in a frantic effort to save what they could. And somehow, almost magically, they managed to print a paper the very next day. Whenever I see Trevor Askin’s sculpture of the paper boy on Sophia Street, I think of the boy with his bundle, his loyal dog, who could have been the editor’s dog lost to the fire.
Black and white glass plate negative depicting a copy of an illustration of Timaru in the early 1860s, with a church in the background. Canterbury Museum Accession number 1989.79.6 https://collection.canterburymuseum.com/objects/1188239/glass-plate-negative-early-timaru
16 Months after the fire, the people of Timaru voted unanimously to form a proper volunteer fire brigade. A fire engine was loaned from Christchurch. In 1869, a new council bylaw required all new buildings in the central town area to be constructed of masonry. No more timber. Brick and stone would now need to stand in its place.
In 1870, the Landing Services Building was completed, the first of many strong structures to rise from the ruins. What had once been a single dusty street of wooden shops became Stafford Street, sealed for vehicles and lined with lasting architecture. Architect Frances Wilson was said to have practically rebuilt the town, and if you look today, reminants of those years of rebuilding after are still there today.
The fire was a turning point. The architecture that followed reflects the resilience, prosperity and pride of a town that refused to be defeated.
The buildings that still stand today along Stafford Street are more than heritage features. To me they are monuments to those who lost everything, who chose to build back better. Timaru did not just survive. It transformed. It rose like a phoenix from the ashes.
Here are some photos from the Museum Collection, that help us visualise what the town was like before and after the fire.
Photograph looking across the Washdyke Lagoon up to the Boiling Down Works on the hill, near Timaru, circa 1880. South Canterbury Museum
The corner of Stafford and George Streets, Timaru, circa 1864 to 1868. In the centre of the image the store of Clarkson and Turnbull's (drapers) sits on the intersection of the streets. Built immediately against that building, on the right, is the Post Office on George Street. Near the right edge of the image the old wooden Bank of New Zealand building is just visible over a wooden building on the near side of Stafford Street. In addition, on the left side of the image and on the south-east corner of the intersection, is the Club Hotel - largely obscured by the nearer building at the left of the image. South Canterbury Museum
Govenment Landing Services Building - Established by Le Cren and Cain - South Canterbury Museum 6107
A view of Strathallan Street, Timaru, circa 1866. It appears to be taken from Le Crens Terrace (now The Terrace) looking across to E Reece's Warehouse in Strathallan Street. In the background, on Stafford Street, is B Wallis's Furniture Warehouse (second from right), and beyond it part of the first, wooden, St Mary's Church is visible at the top right. South Canterbury Museum 2019/049.33.
A view of Strathallan Street, Timaru, sometime in the 1860s. It appears to be taken from Le Cren's Terrace (now The Terrace) looking across to the Royal Hotel. South Canterbury Museum 2019/049.41
Stafford Street c1880 South Canterbury Museum 6106
Overdrawn photograph looking down George St and across Great North Road (Stafford St) to the sea, circa 1864. The buildings of Clarkson & Turnbull plus the Post Office appearon the right. Two men are pictured standing outside the Post Office while a horse and wagon can be seen outside Russell Ritchie and Co. on the left. In the background two ships are visible in the roadstead. South Canterbury Museum
1868, View up George St., Timaru, showing old Club Hotel & Old Bank of N.Z. Also George St. water well. corner of George St and the Great North Road (Stafford St), Timaru. Taken between April and December 1868. It is viewed looking along George St to the west. South Canterbury Museum