The 1920s marked a decade of continued growth for the Casper Ranger Lumber Company. In addition to lumber and custom woodwork sales, the company offered over 100 residential building plans for customers to choose from. The lumberyard would provide material cost estimates based on the selected plan.
In addition to the construction and lumber companies, the Hampshire Brick Company was controlled by the Ranger family. The companies had taken out life insurance policies for their 440 employees while they were working there. This was to assist the families of deceased workers during difficult financial times. The first payouts under the policies occurred in 1922.
In 1928, the lumber company supplied the teak doors and all interior woodwork for the new Hadley Falls Bank at Suffolk and Maple Streets.
On the evening of Monday, April 28, 1930, a general alarm that started at the lumberyard woodpile behind the dwellings on Bond Street brought out fire departments from Holyoke, Chicopee, Springfield and Northampton, along with volunteers, who attempted to quell the blaze. The lumberyard and the construction company's office were destroyed. The lumber company's loss was estimated at $500,000.
The fire spread behind the railroad tracks to the adjacent Farr Alpaca Mill. Although the mill building itself suffered $50,000 in damage and would be restored by Lynch Brothers Brick Company within one week, the interior loss was far more substantial. A quarter million pounds of wool, including expensive mohair and alpaca, scoured and ready for production, was destroyed by water and smoke infiltration. The Farr-Alpaca Company estimated its loss at $600,000.
The adjacent railyard suffered an estimated $8,000 in damage. There were approximately a dozen freight cars on sidings near the inferno.
The fire also spread across Bond Street to the William Skinner & Sons Mill. The sprinklers were activated, causing extensive damage to the building's interior equipment, raw materials and inventory. Damage was estimated at $100,000.
The fire was so intense, and coupled with a southeast breeze, burning embers reached the City Hall clock tower, threatening the building. More than 200 feet of hose was dragged up to the tower's hot spots by Springfield firefighters and citizens to extinguish the occasional bursts of flames. When assessed, the damage was around $10,000.
The final estimate of loss was tallied at just under $500,000 by insurance estimators.
Crowd control was an issue, as an estimated 30,000 onlookers were present, many of whom wanted to be perilously close to the blaze. Police, specials, and the National Guard kept the crowd safely behind the fire lines.
The company rebuilt and opened its new offices on Bond Street on November 12, 1930.
Joseph F. Ranger, the President of the three companies, died in 1932, as did his brother, James A. Ranger, who succeeded him in 1933. These were the last of Casper Ranger's living sons, and a new era would soon begin with leadership from outside the family continuing under the family name.
In the mid 1930s, the company was awarded the contract to install windows and doors at the new Westfield State Armory Building. The lumberyard also provided the millwork for the new Chester (Mass.) Town Hall and wooden materials for the state national guard company F of the 104th infantry, which was preparing to conduct maneuvers in New York state.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; publication dates and pages are shown.
Ancestry.com (paid subscription): Price & Lee Holyoke, Massachusetts, City Directories
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