Acton Hotel Fire
Acton, California

The demise of the Acton Hotel, built in 1890 by Rudolph Eugene Nickel, was captured for posterity on the night of Friday, Oct. 19, 1945. The fire, which broke out in the attic, was suspected to be arson, but it was not proven.

Samuel H. Schorr, wartime owner of the Acton hotel, returned from military service in 1945 to find that many of the furnishings and supplies he had left behind at his hotel and store were missing. He accused the man he had hired to run the business in his absence, Clarence Rush, of theft. Rush, the town postmaster, was arrested; he was arraigned on Thursday, Oct. 18, 1945, and released on $2,000 bond. The next night at 9:20 firefighters were alerted that the Acton hotel was on fire. By the time they arrived on scene it was too late.

Rush's preliminary hearing on the grand-theft charge was scheduled for Dec. 7, 1945. The district attorney moved to dismiss the case for lack of evidence — and because the accuser, Schorr, failed to appear in court.