by Ed Belding South Brunswick Historical Society
January 14, 1923--Fire Razes Monmouth Junction Hotel
There were strange doings at the site of the destructive fire which razed the Monmouth Junction Hotel on the Tuesday before the account was covered in the newspaper. How the fire got started is still unknown. By January 14, 1923, information became widespread about the unusual challenges volunteer firefighters from Jamesburg and Cranbury had to face. That early Tuesday morning, the firefighters answered the alarm, arrived to lay several hundred feet of hose, and readied themselves for battling the fast-spreading flames. However, Monmouth Junction residents, who had gathered at the site of the blaze, started harassing the firefighters. They told the Jamesburg fireman to go back home and mind their own business. These folks also told the Cranbury firemen to disconnect their hoses and return from whence they came. Heated discussions turned to hot arguments. By this time the hotel was engulfed in flames. Things eventually settled down between firemen and locals. Hoses were again connected--too late for the doomed hotel, but in the nick of time to save nearby structures. In the aftermath of the blaze, the Cranbury firemen were treated to sandwiches and coffee, provided by South Brunswick locals. The Jamesburg volunteers, however, received nothing in the form of gratitude. Rumors spread as to the cause for such friction and ill will. The picture cleared by the 14th. It was revealed that many of the law-abiding and God-fearing locals were glad to see the "hotel of ill-repute" burn to the ground--good riddance to illicit activities and bad characters. That appears to be the main reason why locals interfered with the actions of the brave firefighters. This all goes to prove that there is a right way to do things, a wrong way to do things, and a broad gray way to do things . . .
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