The Rhoads Opera House Tragedy 1908 by Tori N.

The aftermath of the deadly fire - This was a nation-wide
tragedy that had deep repucussions and changed fire safety
laws throughout the country.  Survivors have many stories that
are chilling.  (Photo Courtesy of the Boyertown Histocial Society)
  Be sure to check the YouTube Story for more info by clicking here.
For more written information check out the book by clicking here. 

The Rhoads Opera House Fire is interesting to me. In Boyertown, PA there was an opera house called Rhoads Opera House. On January 13, 1908, the opera house was presenting “The Scottish Reformation”sponsored by St.John’s Lutheran Church. For the intermission they wanted to show slides, so they used a kerosene lamp. Then someone knocked it over. The lamp caught on fire and engulfed the building in flames.

A boy ran many blocks to the fire station and said “The opera house is on fire!” When the fire department heard the news they were in a rush trying to get to the opera house. They had no time to attach the horses to the fire cart, so they decided to pull it. John Graver, who at the fire station remembered that his sister was at the play, and decided to grab a cart and go. The street was recently covered with stones and sent John crashing into a tree! He was killed when he crashed into that tree.

People from all over the town came to help, while the fire department was coming. Some even risked their own lives to save others lives. The fire department was eventually able to make it but not in time to save everyone. Doctors and policemen came from Reading to help Boyertown authorities.

The News - 16 January 1908
A close up view of this story is
available at the bottom of this
post.

The authorities went into the remains of the opera house to gather up any clothes, wallets, or jewelry to identify victims of the fire. President Theodore Rosevelt gave his sympathy to the families who lost people in the fire, after he heard the news. While frantic families were looking to claim their loved ones, they found a strange thing.

They found a woman dressed in men's clothes, and they said she was also wearing a ring with a R on it. Many theories were spreading about this mystery woman, like that she was a robber hiding out in Boyertown. Jewelry on other people’s bodies started to disappear. The authorities decided to keep the mystery woman in a different room under surveillance. The mystery was soon solved when a family in Philadelphia remembered their 14 year old daughter was wearing a ring with a R on it. Men’s close were accidentally placed by her.

171 people perished in the fire. They soon started digging graves for the 171 victims, they even dug graves for the unidentified. The digging took 4 days to complete. St. John’s minister was injured in the fire and was stuck in bed, so minister’s from other towns came in to help. St. John’s minister couldn’t even come to his own daughter’s funeral.

Soon Boyertown authorities would start looking for who was to blame. After a trial was held the blame was put on 2 people. Harriet Monroe was one person to blame because she hired an inexperienced projectionist, and Harry Bechtel for not giving the building the proper safety measures.

Each one of these people had unfullfilled promise.  It was supposed to be a wonderful community night.  People were excited to act in the play, people were excited to see their family and friends, instead it ended in an unepected horror.
They said it was as if the air itself was on fire, no doubt the vapor of the gasoline.  There were many survivors who told many stories.  Certainly learning from their stories would be an interesting pursuit.  Maybe someone could write more about the lives of the people, who they were and what their dreams were.

WELL DONE TORI!  I never heard of this story before...You have taught me something!  Mr. Rabenold