Page 12B - 2022 Fire and home loss


Page 12B - Some photos from our community in 2022


2020 - A fire burns older Ellsworth home at 1531 Dayton Street. First, see an older photo of that home at 1531 Dayton Street on a snowy winter day. This Ellsworth home located at 1531 Dayton Street (constructed in 1895 on Lots 1&2 of Block 5) was sold in 1975 by Tida Thompson to the new owners Alan and Gina Spohnheimer. The document seen below was published in the Daily Freeman Journal on September 10, 1975. After living in and owning the home for 46 years, the Spohnheimers sold the home in October of 2019. An aerial view showing from left: Ellsworth Main Street, Ellsworth United Methodist Church, and the home at 1531 Dayton Street. Although the house lasted for over 120 years with the color white, the home had been painted the color blue two years before the following event. You can see at the right, the back and the spire of the Ellsworth United Methodist Church. Now below you see that same home the morning after an accidental fire burned it at 2:30AM on June 20, 2022. Three fire departments responded in the early morning. This page of photos will show the aftermath. These photos show the East side which faced Dayton Street. The next photos go around the home's South side. Evidently, the fire began in the early morning on the front porch located at the East end. The burn marks remaining from the heat and smoke show the wind had blown from the East. The south side of the burned home. This photo shows the Southwest side as it had looked in 1979 before the back deck was constructed. The West side Most of the West end of the home was untouched by the flames. These photos are going around to the North side. An older photo follows. This July, 1979 photo of the North side shows Mr. Bruner and Alan Spohnheimer *getting the old truck prepared for the next year's Ellsworth Centennial Parade.* The north side of the Dining Room and kitchen are seen in these two photos (above and below). The remains of the furnace are seen in this photo taken through the dining room window. The northeast corner of the home is seen in this photo taken years before the fire. This shows the Northeast corner of the burned home. The next photo shows the heat damaged vinyl siding on the home just south of the fire. The next and final photo shows the nine year-old Ellsworth home at 1531 Dayton Street as it was pictured in in 1904. This first aerial photo of Ellworth was taken from the belfry of the Lutheran Church. The rather new 1903 Ellsworth Congregational Church (now United Methodist) is seen are right. The 1883 Methodist Episcopal Church is seen at left. Below is the lot at 1531 Dayton after the fire-damaged home is cleaned up and removed. Only the garage remains at 1531 Dayton. (View this early aerial view of Ellsworth and read the description on Page D.) After this home provided living quarters in Ellsworth for 127 years, only memories of this home at 1531 Dayton Street remain. Back Home