Christmas fire hits downtown Canton

By Carolyn Mathews and Erika Neldner

The Canton Fire Department is investigating a devastating fire in downtown Canton that sparked after local residents went to bed Christmas night and engulfed several unoccupied downtown buildings. No one was injured. The blaze was biggest fire Canton has seen since the June 29, 1955, Cantex Corduroy Company fire, in which one person was killed.

 As a result of the Dec. 26 fire, which was called in at 1:38 a.m., the city lost several historic buildings in its downtown district. 

Erika Neldner | Ledger-News The husk of the wreckage was still smoking around 8 a.m. Dec. 26, and small fires flared-up for a few hours before firefighters knocked down what remained of the three historic buildings.

Canton Assistant Fire Chief Donnie Arp said the area in which the fire originated has been identified by the fire department, but that location was not being disclosed at press time.  He said the investigation is ongoing, and, when asked, said he did not know if evidence had been found regarding use of accelerants.

Three of the buildings, located on the corner of East Main and Church Street, fire officials say, probably are complete losses. Buildings lost were the old Canton Drug Store that housed Art 101, Taylor Jewelry Store, Billy Moss’ Canton shoe shop building (also part of Canton Drug), and Jimmy Cannon’s Accountant’s Office building. The Cloud Building has outside wall damage, and the Mason Law Firm building has water damage, according to John Fincher, owner of the drugstore building. The drugstore building was the first building in town with poured concrete floors on the main level, Fincher said. It was built between 1918 and 1922 by D.T. Darnell, who owned the pharmacy for a period of time, before it was  re-acquired by the Fincher family. Canton Drug was founded in 1896 by Fincher’s grandfather, W.W. Fincher.  

“The building has long served as a social hub for the downtown, at one point even serving as a bus station in the early half of the 20th Century, said Cherokee County Historical Society Executive Director Stefanie Joyner. “When long-distance and local telephone service required separate operations, the local call service center was located on the second floor.” 

Firefighters were on the scene of the Christmas weekend blaze from shortly after the call went out until nearly 7 p.m. that day. The Canton Fire Department, along with Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services, battled the fire. A mutual aid agreement in effect brought firefighters from Bartow, Pickens and Forsyth to Canton to cover the rest of the county in case of more emergency calls. The Canton Fire Department, after the fire was brought under control, had a construction company come in to knock down the corner buildings by bulldozer, because Arp said the structure was not stable enough and it was feared it might cave in. 

Fincher said he was called at around 3 a.m. and told his building was on fire. 

“It took me about five minutes to get here,” he said, around 8 a.m., at the scene of the fire.  “It looked (at that time) like  everything was contained on the back side of the building. In fact, when I got here, I unlocked the doors for them on all the building fronts. I could have gone in that portion at that point in time. But police and fire wouldn’t let me in.”

Fincher said for a while it seemed the fire was contained. Then, he said, about an hour later, “all of sudden smoke started billowing out in front of the store building here on the Main Street, and the fire came up and glass blew out the front.”

“It was gone and there was nothing we could do,” he said. “They’ve been trying to put it out ever since.” 

Cherokee County Post 2 Commissioner and Hickory Flat Volunteer firefighter Jim Hubbard said, about 5 a.m., there was concern as cracks appeared in the Church Street wall, and crews were backed out of range of the walls in case of collapse.

“The Cherokee County Sheriff Office of Homeland Security (OHS) Command center responded to the scene, allowing the command staff to be inside while watching the progress of the fire over the TV screens inside the unit,” Hubbard said.  “Plans were made for relief crew and the overall plan for cleanup. OHS supplied rehab supplies and rest areas for the firefighters.”

 Jack Fincher, John’s brother, said he was a third-generation pharmacist and worked in the building. 

“It's amazing and frightening and something I thought would never  happen (he said of watching the building burn).” He said the building was remodeled in 1957 to take into two buildings. 

“It was a cosmetics store,” Jack Fincher said.  “And the Warrior room (Cherokee High) was the gathering place and the soda fountain.” 

Retiring Canton City Councilman Lester Cantrell is a life-long Canton resident. 

“It’s a shame that it happened just as we’re trying to rebuild downtown Canton,” he said. “We just got the building up where Cantex was. But when it happens, it happens.” 

Cantrell said the community would really miss cobbler Billy Moss. 

“We’re going to miss that guy; Billy can fix anything. Maybe he can find another place,” he said. 

Joyner said she believed the shoe shop was the second-oldest business in downtown Canton. Moss had been in business for 53 years, since Cantex burned and he lost his job there.

She said the first record the Historical Society has of the jewelry store is around 1918, and that it housed a barbershop for many years.