Metz Fire Trailside Historical Park honors memory of tragic event

by Peter Jakey–Managing Editor
The first tragedy occurred 110 years ago when fire swept through the village of Metz, taking 37 lives and leaving 84 families homeless.
A second tragedy is being averted with the efforts that have been taken to preserve history.
There are still people living who have heard the survivors’ stories. 4218-structure
People gathered to commemorate the anniversary of the fire at the Metz Fire Trailside Historical Park, Sunday afternoon. The fire occurred Oct. 15, 1908.
“We are now the generation that heard the stories re-told from those who heard it from survivors,” said Nancy Kandow, chairman of the park committee and Metz Township clerk.
As the stories continue to be re-told, she said, there is a risk of letting one of the most tragic fires in the state’s history be forgotten.

A REPLICA relief shack is now part of the Metz Fire Trailside Historical Park. Many people were getting to tour it for the first time during Sunday’s 110th anniversary observance. (Photo by Peter Jakey)
A REPLICA relief shack is now part of the Metz Fire Trailside Historical Park. Many people were getting to tour it for the first time during Sunday’s 110th anniversary observance. (Photo by Peter Jakey)

That’s just not going to happen.
“Thanks to the grants, personal, monetary and material donations, we have been able to capture a snapshot in this park that highlights and cements a place in history of the Metz fire, the people who perished and the survivors who endured,” said Kandow.
The park and pavilion, that opened three years ago, has historical displays on the interior walls that have been seen by many visitors since it opened.
To commemorate the 110th anniversary of the fire, a 14-by-16-foot relief shack has been constructed in the park. It’s what survivors lived in during the winter of 1908-09. There were 120 built throughout the entire fire area that covered 200,000 acres in three counties.
“We don’t know how long people stayed in them. You walk in there once, if you don’t get claustrophobic. You think about a father and a mother with five or six children in the shack for a winter or two, ” said Mark Thompson, Presque Isle County Historical Museum curator/executive director, who has provided his expertise on the historical event and wrote a book for the 100th anniversary in 2008. He said there is more work to be done on the relief shack with rolled roofing and furniture from the time.4218-metz-building
Thompson said there are still two relief shacks remaining in the Metz area and there was thought about moving one to the park, but the condition is so poor it would not be possible.
Other plans for the park include placement of a gondola railcar that has been donated.
“It is very similar to what the people perished in,” said Thompson. “We hope to get it here and add that to the park.”

Mark Thompson
Mark Thompson

Rustic campsites behind the adjacent township hall also are in the works.
“So, people biking or hiking on the trail can stay over night,” said Thompson, who is pleased the park is getting so much use.
“During the Nautical City Festival, I did a tour of Metz fire sites and we spent some time here in the pavilion, and I told them about the fire,” he said. “We took off on the bus…and by the time we got back there were 30 cars around this place. The Bade family was having their family reunion. And I have seen one other major reunion here since that time.”
Thompson said community members enjoy seeing it used. “I think the people of Metz can take great pride in what they have been able to do here,” said Thompson.