Newspaper Headlines, 1905

From the October 29, 1905 edition of the News & Observer

On October 29, 1905, fire struck both Walter Wollcott's store at 14 Martin Street in downtown Raleigh and a dormitory at the Catholic Orphanage in the Nazareth community, two and a half miles west of Raleigh. The first fire was reported at 12:30 a.m. from Box 23. Though flames threatened to spread to the adjacent Yarborough Hotel and Merchant and Farmers Bank building, the fire was contained to Wollcott's store.  The damage totaled $24,875.00.  The second fire was reported about 2 a.m. at the four-story "Priests building." Five young men, students preparing for the priesthood, escaped by jumping from the windows. Three were injured from the fall, one of whom later died that evening. The building was a total loss, with damage of $25,000. A "squad of cadets" from  nearby A&M college assisted with firefighter, as did members of the Rescue and Hook and Ladder companies. Several decades later, the fire may have inspired the legend of "Cry Baby Lane," a nearby road that visitors purport to smell smoke and hear the screams of children.