Feb. 25--ST. CLAIR --Memorabilia depicting a slice of life in small-town middle America since the late 1800s went up in flames when fire gutted the St. Clair Historical Museum in Franklin County late Sunday night.
"Everything on the second floor is totally ashes," said Patsy Todd, 71, who gave tours of the museum and used to serve on its board. "Everything that was wood or paper has been destroyed."
Todd said she could see flames from four or five blocks away after the fire broke out about 9 p.m. The two-story, century-old building at 280 Hibbard Street had been closed for the night. No one was injured. The cause was under investigation, but firefighters suspect an electrical issue with a light fixture.
Firefighters doused the flames, then lined up to salvage what they could from the still-smoldering rubble.
"They were absolutely wonderful," Todd said.
They expected the roof to collapse, so they brought out what they could, including two file cabinets and an old family Bible that was leather-bound with metal latches holding it together.
Through tears, Todd was making a mental inventory Monday morning of what had been lost in the fire:
A doctor's bag, stethoscope and pill bottles from a physician who made house calls and delivered 5,000 babies in the early 1900s. Indian artifacts. Old schoolhouse pictures. An old Hoosier cabinet and washboard in a kitchen from 1928. An original $10 Confederate bill. A 1913 bank ledger and the desk used by the first bank president.
Mementos from the International Shoe Factory that was built in town in 1923. The original time clock used at the shoe factory and some shoes from that era.
Most of the popular Route 66 display burned up, too. On a wall about 9 feet long, the display included a glass case with photographs of businesses along what had been a gravel road. One restaurant had a sign advertising a chicken and dumplings dinner for 75 cents.
"People from everywhere, even Europe, came by on Route 66 and stopped by to see the museum," Todd said.
The youngest tour guide, 13-year-old Evan Barnes, came late Sunday and again on Monday morning to see the aftermath with his parents. "It's really sad," he said.
Evan got hooked on the museum after visits at a young age. He started giving tours at the age of 8 or 9, primarily to schoolchildren.
"I studied every display in there," he said. "I was getting interested in the railroad and the old fires of St. Clair, and the Route 66 stuff and the mining materials."
The history museum was started in 1989. It was housed in the Odd Fellows building, built in 1899. Before opening the museum, its organizer spent 20 years gathering material and going to estate sales to accumulate enough for the displays. The museum was supported by volunteers and received no government funding. They had a trivia night to raise money. They took donations and charged for membership.
The museum was open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Supporters had tried to keep it open two days a week, but many of the older volunteers couldn't be there that much, Todd said. The museum had been averaging about 10 guests a week, although there were times when bigger groups stopped by. Nearly 50 guests came over the weekend to see a newly added black history display.
Many of the families in St. Clair have been there since the mining days of the 1850s. Some of the implements that the museum had from the mining industry should be salvageable, Todd said.
"It was a whole picture of everyday life from the late 1800s through 2014," Todd said. "You could walk through it and it was like walking through history. It was not a cold, rigid museum. It was a warm, loving place."
She added: "I'm just crying and praying that we can get another place and rebuild."
Les Crews, chief of the St. Clair Fire Protection District, said about 50 firefighters helped put out the two-alarm fire. St. Clair was helped by fire crews from Union, Boles, Pacific, Sullivan and Cedar Hill.
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