Magill's Warehouse

Samuel Magill was born in Pennsylvania in 1832. Throughout his first 50 or so years of life he traveled many places including: New York, Minnesota, Iowa, and finally settling in Fargo, North Dakota. After coming to Fargo in 1881 Magill began a grain business, Barnes and Magill, with a man named G.S. Barnes. In 1884 Samuel Magill started the Magill & Company with his son Henry. This company being one of many that burned in 1893. Magill served in the Civil War, a member of the Masonic Fraternity, and overall a highly praised man by his peers. He later died in Chicago on December 21, 1899. (1)

Pieces of twine atop of the warehouse caught light and spread downward engulfing the structure. An onlooker described the sight as, “hell itself could not have presented a more terrible picture.”(2)

Sources:

1. Compenium History and Bigraphy of North Dakota. Chicago, G.A.Ogle. 1900. https://archive.org/stream/compendiumhistor00chic#page/1305/mode/1up
2. “Special Fire Edition,” Argus (Fargo, ND), June 7, 1894.

Photo courtesy of: "Fargo, Cass County, ND 1892". Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for North Dakota, Institute for Regional Studies, North Dakota State University, Fargo.