And the West is History: Halloween fire aftermath at Animas School – 1919

Nine-year-old Mary Belle Hunt thoroughly enjoyed the 1919 Animas City School Halloween party. So much so that at the age of 93, it was still a vivid memory. She wrote: “Shrieks and laughter filled the air. Hilarious fun.” She also remembered returning to the school the next day to find the building severely burned. A custodian had removed the decorations and stuffed them into the furnace in the basement. The hot ashes from the chimney caught the wooden roof and bell tower on fire, nearly destroying the school. Over the next six months, classes met at Animas City Town Hall and the Presbyterian church during renovations. Restoration efforts did not include the hip roof or bell tower. In 2008, the La Plata County Historical Society, under the leadership of Director Robert McDaniel, completed the restoration of the hip roof and bell tower of the former school, creating a new storage space for the Animas Museum’s many collections. – Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, edhorvat@animasmuseum.org (Catalog Number: 04.34.2 from the La Plata County Historical Society Photo Collections).