The 1885 Cabery, Illinois fire was a disaster that took place on May 3, 1885, in the village of Cabery,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. The blaze would ultimately destroy 24 businesses and 14 homes while unbelievably causing zero deaths or injuries.

Event description

In the early hours of May 3, 1885 an unnamed individual happened to be walking by a

millinery Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners made and sold a range of accessories for clothing and hairstyles. ...

shop owned by the Hilborne family when they noticed flames growing from the building. Thanks to this unknown person, the family was able to escape from their upstairs home without trouble. However, the flames quickley spread to the general store next door and the rest of the business district. Similarly to other villages of the era, Cabery's businesses were almost all entirely made of wood. It is also worth noting that Cabery had no fire department, only a

bucket brigade A bucket brigade or human chain is a method for transporting items where items are passed from one (relatively stationary) person to the next. The method was important in firefighting before the advent of hand-pumped fire engines, whereby fire ...

. Which, despite the townspeople's efforts, had little effect. The largest structure in the district was the Commercial Hotel which also within hours arrupted in flames, of which the guests residing within barely managed to escape. By sunrise the entire south side of Main Street was reduced to rubble, many of the structures only having their foundations remain. By early afternoon the flames were finally quelled.

Aftermath

Despite zero deaths or injuries being reported, the village was left in complete shambles. A total of twenty-four businesses and fourteen homes were completely destroyed. The entirety of the south side of the street was gone (the portion of the village located in Ford County) along with a furniture and

butcher A butcher is a person who may Animal slaughter, slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale ...

shop on the north side within

Kankakee County Kankakee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 107,502. Its county seat is Kankakee. Kankakee County comprises the Kankakee, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area. History ...

. Fifteen families were left homeless and the village suffered an estimated total of $100,000 in damages, or about $3.25 million in 2025. With only around $25,000 being covered by various insurances. For several years the community's retail market stagnated as not a single business was left standing. It is unknown if the state of Illinois sent any resources to the small village following the fire, but it is likely that then Governor Richard Oglesby was notified. Cabery slowly recovered and Main Street was rebuilt by the early 1900s. Cabery built its first firehouse in 1965 and in 2022 a new/modern station was built.

References

{{coord, 40.996, -88.206, type:event_globe:earth_region:US-IL, display=title Disasters in Illinois Fires in Illinois 1885 in Illinois