If You Drive Along Woodland Blvd. In Downtown ...

If you drive along Woodland Blvd. In downtown Deland, you will notice that all of the old buildings in that area, unlike the oldest buildings in Enterprise, are all built of masonry. That’s because of the fire of 1855. The fire, which swept downtown Deland in September of 1855 forever, changed the face of downtown DeLand along Woodland Blvd. The fire started in Wilcox’s Saloon and destroyed the 100 block of Woodland Blvd. on both sides of the road. The day after the fire, two city ordinances were set up. The first banned all saloons in DeLand and the second mandated that all buildings in the downtown area be built using masonry material, not wood. The people of Deland decided, a bit late, that they needed to make sure they built with materials that could not be easily burned, that could not be easily destroyed.

Paul warns Christians of the importance of building to last as well when he says in 1 Corinthians 3:13 each one’s work will become obvious, for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work.