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SCOUTING YESTERDAY: Sudden wind shift saved Webster from fire devastation in 1900
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SCOUTING YESTERDAY: Sudden wind shift saved Webster from fire devastation in 1900

This week in South Dakota history: May 23-29

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Dan Gehlsen
May 27, 2025
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The Dakota Scout
SCOUTING YESTERDAY: Sudden wind shift saved Webster from fire devastation in 1900
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Webster’s Elevator Store, 1900. Photo: South Dakota State Historical Society

The town of Webster was spared from destruction 125 years ago this week when a Standard Oil company employee carelessly threw a match to the floor after lighting a pipe around 2 p.m.

The match ignited a pile of waste that sparked a fiery inferno, reportedly nearly burning the town to the ground, according to the May 24, 1900, edition of The Brookings Register.

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