A fire broke out on Wednesday morning around 3:30 am at the Bidwell National Park in Chico, CA. The Bidwell Mansion, which sits in the park and is designated a historic landmark, was engulfed in flames and destroyed.
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Bidwell Mansion on the morning of December 11, 2024. A fire, reported at 3:05 am, destroyed the historic home of John and Annie Bidwell. The building was undergoing renovation when fire burned down Chico’s 160-year-old iconic symbol.
Frank Schulenburg'
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Bidwell Mansion on the morning of December 11, 2024. A fire, reported at 3:05 am, destroyed the historic home of John and Annie Bidwell. The building was undergoing renovation when fire burned down Chico’s 160-year-old iconic symbol.
Frank Schulenburg'
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Bidwell Mansion on December 11, 2024. The building was undergoing renovation when a fire destroyed the historic home of John and Annie Bidwell in Chico, California.
Frank Schulenburg'
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Bidwell Mansion on December 11, 2024. The building was undergoing renovation when a fire destroyed the historic home of John and Annie Bidwell in Chico, California.
Frank Schulenburg'
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Bidwell Mansion on the morning of December 11, 2024. A fire, reported at 3:05 am, destroyed the historic home of John and Annie Bidwell. The building was undergoing renovation when fire burned down Chico’s 160-year-old iconic symbol.
Frank Schulenburg'
The Bidwell Mansion was the home of pioneer John Bidwell and suffragette activist Annie Bidwell from 1868 to 1900. When the Bidwells were married in Washington D.C, then sitting President Andrew Johnson, and future President Ulysses S. Grant, were in attendance.
At the time, the mansion was a symbol of grandeur and innovation. The 26-room estate, built in 1865, featured at the time modern plumbing, gas lighting, and pink-tinted plaster inside, according to the website. Notable guests who stayed at the Chico mansion included President Rutherford B. Hayes, Civil War General William Sherman, Susan B. Anthony, and Governor Stanford.
The Victorian-style mansion has been closed to the public for renovations since May.
Five fire trucks and one ambulance responded to the fire. No known injuries have been reported at this time. The cause of the fire is still unknown.
“I can’t believe it’s gone, I see it all the time and go there often since I was born and raised in Chico it’s unbelievable,” said Tonya when asked what she thought about the Bidwell mansion being destroyed in a fire adding that “it’s going to be hard to see the area without the mansion.”
