The Great Fire of London occurred in 1666, but Stawell had its own great fire when, on February 20, 1866 a blaze broke out at the top end of Main Street, Reefs, Pleasant Creek (as Stawell was then known).
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The fire was one of the most terrible ever recorded in the Colony and by the time it was extinguished, about 14 flimsy canvas, bark or wooden buildings had either been destroyed or badly damaged. Many buildings were saved by quelling the flames using wet blankets.
The fire started at the rear of Mr Thomas Hodges' furniture shop. These premises were the second building from the Patrick Street corner, the corner being occupied by Miss Nihill's weatherboard building used for Magic Lantern Shows and dancing.
In a very short time, Mr Hodges' furniture shop together with Miss Nihill's to the east and Ramsay's boot and shoe store to the west were destroyed with little saved.
It went on to destroy a boot factory, another boot and shoe shop, the Wesleyan Chapel, the London Chartered Bank, a book store, the Mechanics Institute and a chemist shop.
Mr and Mrs Gray Campbell had a tobacconist shop about where Perry's shoe shop is now and after consultation, the couple cheerfully agreed to allow their premises to be demolished.
This building was quickly broken into fragments and the danger was over as the fire was prevented from spreading further down the street.
The fire was a tremendous loss to a lot of people. A few people had some insurance but they were the exceptions. The people who lived behind or in their shops became homeless as well as losing all of their possessions and stock.
It was not long before the occupants began to clear away the blackened ruins and to commence building afresh.
Within 12 months, the old shanties had been replaced by more permanent buildings, for besides the old business firms, newcomers were attracted by the increasing gold yield, which for many years afterwards continued to be good and caused a great increase in the population.
Miss Nihill from the corner of Patrick and Main streets, bought the bricks from the destroyed Mechanics Institute and used them to build the Club Hotel on the corner in 1875, a building that still exists.
An enquiry into the fire was held at Blackburns Assembly Rooms, Reefs, Pleasant Creek and the verdict was that the fire probably started by ashes being thrown onto a pile of rubbish.
