The Great Madill Wagon Yard fire

In 1902, Conday Cortez (C.C.) Carroll moved to Madill from Durant. Originally from Tennessee, Carroll was born on January 18, 1867. He grew up in Mineral Wells, Texas after his family moved there when he was a small child. Shortly before moving to Madill, Carroll married Cora Mackey of Durant.

Upon moving to Madill, Carroll purchased six lots of land at the corner of Third and Taliaferro. This is the property now occupied by the AT&T switch building and yard.

On the site Carroll established the City Wagon Yard. The yard, along with another wagon yard south of the square, served the city for about four decades. The wagon yard provided most all services needed for wagon sales, repair, animal husbandry, livestock sales andboarding aswellasmany other services.

In 1913, Carroll began construction on a large stone, tin and wood barn. The barn fronted 3rd Street and was 140 feet long by 80 feet wide. It covered a large portion of the site. Carroll spent approximately $3,000 for the construction of the barn - about $80,000 in today’s dollars. For the next 28 years, the wagon yard, with the 11,200 square foot barn served the citizens of Madill.

On Sunday evening, September 21, 1941, just after evening church services were ending all over town, a fire of unknown origin broke out in the barn. At the time of the fire, the wagon yard and barn contained about 100 tons of prairie hay, and about 30 head of stock. It is believed the fire smoldered for some time before fully engulfing the barn and yard. Because the fire was discovered just as churches around town were ending their evening services, hundreds of people were out and about, and most everyone ended up at the scene watching the fire burn for hours.

The fire burned from Sunday night through Tuesday night and was only fully extinguished whenraincameto Madill on Wednesday.

It was reported that the flames lit the night sky for miles around. The stone building and tin roof helped the Madill firefighters to keep the fire mostly contained to the wagon yard. The main concern was the new post office immediately north of the wagon yard, and the bank building and stores that fronted Lillie Boulevard, might ignite due to embers, so no expense was spared to protect those structures. Rabon Chevrolet suffered some minor damage to a shed on their lot, but the remaining structures surrounding the yard were spared.

Firemen and spectators made several futile attempts to free the animals that were boarded in the barn. Sadly, each time someone was able to get an animal out of the barn, the animal would turn and go back into the barn seeking shelter. One mule was seen on fire, running through the southwest part of Madill. It was never located anditsfatewasneverknown. Numerous horses, mules, cows, hogs and chickens were burned alive in the fire. One Kingston rancher, Cleve Lasiter lost 17 head of cattle in the fire along with 26 tons of his hay. Lasiter stored his cattle in the barn waiting to send them to market. A few horses and mules were rescued but they all suffered from various degrees of burn injuries.

Along with the barn, and all the equipment and contents, and livestock, a few items of historical value were destroyed in the fire. As well as the personal property of one of the yard hands who lived at the yard. One item of historical value was the old inter-town stagecoach that had been used for many years ferrying passengers and stock between the towns surrounding Madill. Carroll bought the stagecoach in 1916anditwasadisplayitem thatattractedthousandsvisitors over the years who were interested in seeing a historical item of such importance.

Also lost was a Model A Ford automobile that was owned by Abe Jarman who lived just north of the wagon yard.

It is said that the wagon yard fire was one of the largest fires ever in Madill or Marshall County.

Also lost was a place where any citizen of Marshall County, who was down on their luck could find a warm and dry place to stay. Carroll would never refuse a person in need of a place to lay their head for the night. t was reported in the Madill Record that Carroll would “offer a free bed on the hay” for “any Marshall County citizen, whether they were “Indian, white or colored.” And he was happy to provide a safe, warm space for the wagons and teams, of rural people on shopping and pleasure trips to Madill.

The wagon yard,andallthe contentswerea complete loss. Nothing could be salvaged. Carroll had the lots cleared and another piece of Madill history was lost forever. Carroll never rebuilt the wagon yard.

On August 22, 1952, Carroll died in Madill after a long illness at 85. He is buried in the Woodberry Forest Cemetery in Madill.