Written By: Jaccii Farris
Narrated by: Jaccii Farris
Line from the film: "It was a tragedy that tore families apart, and devastated a town"
Trivia: It took a year's research to produce this 40-minute documentary
Keeping in tune with the Halloween season, I thought I’d take a look at a real-life horror story, one that occurred right here in my hometown.
If I hop into my car, I can be in Boyertown, Pennsylvania in a matter of minutes. I know, because I’ve made the trip many times since we moved to the area a dozen years ago. Both of my sons attended Boyertown Area High School (one still does, in fact), and for the last decade or so, my youngest has been active in Boyertown’s Little League Baseball program. Both the High School and the ball field are a stone’s throw from what once was the Rhoads Opera House, which, over a hundred years ago, was the scene of a tragedy that decimated the entire town, and made headlines the world over.
It was January 13, 1908, and all of Boyertown was abuzz because a new play was about to open at the Rhoads Opera House (situated in a building at the corner of S. Washington St. and E. Philadelphia Ave., the Opera House took up the entire second floor, just above the town’s bank). Written by Mrs. Harriet Earhart Monroe, the play, titled “The Scottish Reformation”, was scheduled to run for several nights. For a while there, the play was the talk of the town, and, according to some reports, as many as 300+ people crowded into the tiny Opera House to see its debut.
Then, something terrible happened. Per eyewitness accounts, a bulb slipped from the Magic Lantern, which was brought in to project slides onto the stage curtain during intermission. As a result, hydrogen was released into the air (everyone remembers hearing a loud hissing sound). Then, someone on stage moved closer to see what was causing the noise, knocking over a kerosene lamp in the process. Within seconds, the curtain had ignited, and some claim the air itself caught fire. The building was equipped with fire escapes, which a few lucky people used, while others rushed down the back stairs. Most of the patrons, however, ran for the main doors, pushing forward frantically in an effort to escape the growing inferno. But the doors opened inward, and with the force of a hundred or so people against them, they wouldn’t budge. The fire spread quickly, killing 170 men, women, and children. In the blink of an eye, 10% of the town’s population was gone.
Released in 2008 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the fire, The Rhoads Opera House Fire: The Legacy of a Tragedy was produced by WFMZ, a television station headquartered in Reading, Pa. Written and narrated by Jaccii Farris, the movie delves into all aspects of this terrible event, from the stories told by survivors and grieving family members to the trouble the county’s coroner had identifying the bodies of the deceased (many were burned beyond recognition). So terrible was this fire that news of it spread far and wide (U.S. Pres. Theodore Roosevelt passed along the condolences extended by the President of France), and resulted in several safety reforms that have been the standard ever since (all doors must open out, all exits must be clearly marked, etc.). Though it runs a scant 40 minutes, The Rhoads Opera House Fire is extremely informative (researchers spent a year collecting photos and stories for this movie, and their hard work certainly paid off).
What stays with you longest, though, are the personal stories, some of which are heartbreaking. Hoping to surprise her husband Douglas, who was the piano player for that fateful show, Olivia Romig traded her second-night ticket to her niece, who in turn gave her a pass to the premiere (the only surprise poor Douglas got was when he heard the news that his wife, who he thought was home at the time, had perished in the fire). Then there’s 13-year-old Lulu Fegley, whose parents allowed her to attend the show unsupervised. Joined by her cousin, Franklin Leidy (who was the same age as Lulu), the two youngsters, getting their first taste of freedom, walked to the theater by themselves, and were never seen alive again. It would be weeks before the full extent of the carnage was known; A few days after the fire, someone was walking past the Taggert farm when they heard the animals, nearly starved and making all sorts of noises. At that point, the neighbors realized not a single member of the Taggert family had made it out alive.
One area the documentary doesn’t touch on, though, is how the town and many of its citizens believe, quite strongly, that the dead continue to roam the streets. In his book Haunted Boyertown, Charles Adams III makes the boastful claim that Boyertown is the most haunted small town in the United States, and the Rhoads fire is the reason why. Every house, for blocks in every direction, was touched somehow by this calamity, and even today, Boyertown residents believe the victims are still among them (my wife recently went on a ghost walk, sponsored by the local Historical Society, through the streets of Boyertown, and the guide who was leading them allegedly talked quite a bit about the Rhoads fire).
Even 100 years later, a shadow hangs over the citizens of Boyertown, and in all likelihood, it always will.
