50 Years Later- The ’65 Medford High fire: ‘A symphony of destruction’

Fifty years ago this week, on Nov. 1, 1965, a fire ravaged the old Medford High School on Forest Street, destroying two of five buildings in the complex and 33 classrooms. Classes eventually resumed in the north and south wings, with the 2,500 students attending in split sessions, while the city began making plans for a new high school that would open on Winthrop Street in 1971.

The following un-bylined essay about the fire appeared in the 1966 Medford High yearbook, the Blue & White, as did most of the accompanying photos:

“As flames shot icy blue and rust red from the blackened chimney in the crossover, what had seemed but a huge coal stove belching smoke from its many windows, now, in the darkness of dusk, appeared to be a flaming fountain of fire and ash.

“When that hot red glow brightened the evening sky for the first time on the night of November 1, 1965, the milling crowd stood silent, involuntarily at attention, and the hungry fire hissed and roared its sinister song. I had first thought it would be a short, “free time” tune; but now, as the flames jumped from the chimney across the roof, I could see that it was to be a full performance – a symphony of destruction.

“At first it had been the fulfillment of a boyhood dream – to see one’s school burn – and at first I had been only too happy at the prospect of “a couple days off;” now, though, the fiery flood seemed ready to burst the very walls themselves, everything was different – suddenly, it was all changed.

“I was thinking about the Blue & White, our yearbook, and about Mr. [Daniel] Donovan, and perhaps if my physics marks would burn. Then the fireman yelled at me to move out of the way. I decided to walk around the front of the building. The fiery red jets were just beginning to spurt from the windows on the third floor.

“There were no cheers now, only people standing in small groups on the lawns of the houses on Forest St., talking quietly and just watching. I stood silently and watched the solemn crowd pass by, illuminated by the glow of disaster. The whole vivid picture seemed somehow remote: the flames, the smoke, the ashes, the firemen: all this happened in other schools in other communities – but no – it was happening here right before my eyes and I couldn’t seem to grasp it – it was all unreal.

“I decided to move again around the building. As I passed directly in front of the blazing inferno, a gust of wind intermingled a glowing rain of ashes with the smokey mist that had already saturated the air. I walked slowly along, encountering the familiar faces of friends; faces that smiled, faces silently intent, faces, indeed, streaked with tears. Everyone talked about how it had started; everyone speculated about the future; everyone stared in silent, helpless sorrow.

“And thus I spent the rest of the evening watching the fiery orange tongue lick clean the bones of that aged old edifice until only the ravaged skeleton, the smoldering husk remained.

“But as it always does, the dawn brought with it a bright, new day; a hopeful, optimistic future. Double session seemed rather an ignoble end to Medford High’s many distinguished years, but, from the ashes and from the heat-twisted girders will, I hope, arise a new and a brave school – forged in the fires of tradition and hope.”

Many more photos can be viewed in this YouTube slide slow by Kyle J. Wood.

– Compiled by Ken Krause