View source for Boyce and Roberson



[[File:Boyce and Roberson truck.jpg|left|thumb||Boyce & Roberson delivery truck, 1922<br>|Courtesy of Tim Mayers]][[File:Boyce and Roberson blotter.jpg|left|thumb||Advertising blotter (undated) ]] [[File:Boyce and Roberson ad.jpg|left|thumb|'']][[Adirondack Enterprise|Adirondack Enterprise]]''|, August 26, 1925 ]]'''Boyce and Roberson''' established in 1909, was a Saranac Lake firm that dealt in ice, coal and wood, for heat, with offices located at [[22%20Woodruff%20Street|22 Woodruff Street]], (originally at the corner of [[Broadway|Broadway]] and [[Woodruff%20Street|Woodruff Street]]). The owners were [[Willard%20Boyce|Willard Boyce]] and [[Charles%20F.%20Roberson|Charles F. Roberson]]. They also owned an ice house at [[45%20East%20Pine%20Street|45 East Pine Street]] on [[Moody%20Pond|Moody Pond]], and yards at the north end of the village. Fuel oil was added in later years, and then propane, gasoline, lawn and garden supplies and a service station. Boyce died in 1928. When Charles Roberson retired in 1958, the firm was taken over by his son, [[David%20Roberson|David Roberson]] and a partner, [[Walter%20Hammond|Walter Hammond]].
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[[File:Boyce and Roberson ad2.jpg|right|thumb|'']][[Adirondack Enterprise|Adirondack Enterprise]]''|, March 18, 1953 ]][[File:Boyce and Roberson.jpg|right|thumb||The ]][[22 church street|Boyce and Roberson Annex]]| at 22 Church Street]]December 11, 1958, saw Boyce and Roberson's substantial Tudor Revival-style building on the northeast corner of [[22%20Church%20Street|Church Street]] and [[Woodruff%20street|Woodruff street]]s go up in flames. The fire moved incredibly fast, engulfing the upper floor in five minutes; drums of fluid in the ground-floor service station began to explode. According to [[Jim%20Griebsch|Jim Griebsch]], his sister, [[Nancy%20Griebsch|Nancy]], was attending [[Dorothy%20Sargeant|Dorothy Sargeant]]'s dance class in the cavernous second floor space, formerly a bowling alley, when the fire began. When Nancy didn't return promptly to the family home on [[Helen%20Hill|Helen Hill]], a frightened [[Marion%20J.%20Griebsch|Marion Griebsch]] sent Nancy's big brother Jim to find her. Brother [[John%20Griebsch|John]], 14, had gone down from his paper route with his constant accessory, his camera, shortly after the alarm. This was an exciting photo opportunity, as he had just started taking pictures a year or two before. John found Nancy almost immediately, and she stayed with him and safely watched the fire from Church Street hill. John took some stunning photos that evening and sold them to the ''Enterprise''. In those days before cell phones, Nancy earned a loving scolding from her mother for not checking in at home! The first floor of the building still stands, housing [[Stratton%20Plumbing%20and%20Heating|Stratton Plumbing and Heating]] and G.O. Automotive, a one-story shadow of its architecturally handsome former self. <sup>1</sup>

'''Sources:'''
* ''[[Adirondack%20Daily%20Enterprise|Adirondack Daily Enterprise]]'', April 1, 1958

## Footnotes

1. "Saranac Lake in the 1950s," Adirondack Daily Enterprise, January and February, 2007.