Fire at the Gabler Piano Factory in 1880

On Sunday, October 24, 1880, a devastating fire spread through the entire piano factory owned and operated by Ernest Gabler, located on 224 East 22^nd Street in NY. It apparently started in the varnishing room which was located on the fifth (top) floor of the building, due to an overheated stove. Built in 1865, the building was also owned by Mr. Gabler. The front faced 22^nd Street, taking up that entire block, and ran through to 21^st Street, forming an ‘L’.

The basement was used as storage and the first floor was offices. The remaining floors were dedicated to the manufacturing of pianos. After more than an hour of fighting the blaze, the firemen finally gained control, but by the time the fire was out, only the brick walls remained.

Mr. Gabler employed 125 workmen. All of their tools were a total loss, estimated to be worth about $5000 in 1880 currency. The rest of the equipment and stock that were destroyed was valued at just over $101,000. Unfortunately the insurance only covered $33,166 of that.

Fortunately they had a good stock of finished instruments that was stored across the street, unharmed by the fire. The Gabler piano was considered a top of the line piano in those days, and the many customers that the firm had could be serviced at least partially so, from the stock that remained, until Mr. Gabler could restore his operation to making pianos at full capacity again. - as reported in the Music Critic and Trade Review magazine of Nov. 5, 1880.

In those days, fires were, unfortunately, not such an uncommon occurrence in piano factories.