1 minute read
by Fire From the Flames of War and Industry
facility, a textile plant making corduroy fabric, was a significant employer at the time.
In textile operations, fine fibers separate from the cloth during processing, — generically referred to as lint — and represent a constant fire hazard. It’s believed that a boiler explosion ignited a fire. With the ready supply of lint as fuel, it spread quickly, consuming not only the entire manufacturing plant, but also damaging or destroying nearby businesses, including a Chevrolet dealership, a grocery store, the Main Street garage and the offices of the local paper (The North Georgia Tribune). Firefighters from Canton and neighboring communities battled the blaze, extinguishing it eventually, but not before it caused significant damage and loss of life.
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The obituary of Jonah Chadwick tells the story succinctly and poignantly: “Funeral services for Jonah A. Chadwick, 44, who died in the $1,500,000 Canton fire, were held Saturday at 2 p.m. at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Cumming. Officiating were the Rev. Paul Thompson, the Rev. Jay Bottoms and the Rev. Jay Sewell. Burial was in the churchyard. Mr. Chadwick’s body was recovered Friday. He was a jig operator at the Cantex Co., a corduroy manufacturing plant, which was one of five businesses that burned.”
I don’t know where the dollar figure referenced came from, but $1.5 million in 1955, adjusted for inflation, represents the equivalent of just over $16.5 million today. Except for a reference in November 1958 of the settling of a legal dispute between Cantex and the insurance company over what was and was not included in the policy’s coverage, I can find no other mention of Cantex, and I believe it closed its doors forever.
That was not so for the city of Canton; it has carried on from the flames of war and those of industrial calamity — perhaps, in part, because the spirit of its residents always has burned brighter than any fire that thus far has attempted to consume it.
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The Wanderer has been a resident of Cherokee County for nearly 20 years, and constantly is learning about his community on daily walks, which totaled a little more than 2,000 miles in 2022. Send questions or comments to wanderingga@gmail.com.
