SALISBURY, Md. - Saturday marks 84 years since a fire at the G.A. Bounds Mill in Salisbury. It has been described as one of the worst fires in Salisbury's history.
No one died, but three people were injured. It has been said the fire was so large it could be seen as far as Seaford and Princess Anne.
More than eight decades later, the fire's history is being kept alive through a collection at Salisbury University's Edward H. Nabb Research Center. Its director Dr. Creston Long says the mill produced strawberry baskets, which were lost in the fire.
"It was mid-May 1941, right near, coming into strawberry season. So one of the big losses was about 5 million strawberry containers," he said.
Dr. Long says the fire had a major effect on the community, including WBOC Radio. "It also did take down a number of power lines that took out both WBOC and the State Police had a radio station during the same time," he said.
If you have photos or items related to this fire, or any other Delmarva history, Dr. Long has a message. "If they wanted to even just talk about the collection and what they have, or if they wanted to donate it to the Nabb Center then we would talk about that process," he said.
To be clear, this was not the largest fire in Salisbury's history. Two massive fires happened in 1860 and 1886. The former was described in a New York Times headline at the time as nearly destroying Salisbury.