From The Indianapolis Star, Sunday, July 20, 1913: A crowd of 40,000 persons watched Indianapolis firefighters battle a stubborn three-alarm blaze of unknown origin that swept the wholesale district Saturday night. The spectacular conflagration began in the Layman-Carey Hardware Co 111-115 S. Meridian St, and by the time the fire was discovered and an alarm sounded at 8:30 p.m. the building was totally engulfed. The fire spread rapidly to adjacent buildings, and for a while threatened enormous damage to several businesses. The upper floors of the Atlas Paper Co, 109 S. Meridian St. burned and the L. C. Thiele Furnace Manufacturing Co., 107 S. Meridian St. suffered water damage. Sprinklers inside tobacco dealers Hamilton-Harris & Co, 117-119 S. Meridian St minimized fire damage to the building, but the open stock was ruined.