‘You cannot replace that;’ Ohio’s oldest log tavern goes up in flames in early morning fire

TROY — The Overfield Tavern Museum, the oldest building in Troy and the oldest log tavern in the state went up in flames Saturday morning.

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As reported on News Center 7 at 11, the Overfield Tavern Museum was built in 1808, and many of the things inside were irreplaceable.

>> PHOTOS: Historical Overfield Tavern Museum destroyed in fire

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“The building was home to a pretty special collection of early Miami County material, much of which was unfortunately lost in the fire,” The Museum’s Board President Ben Sutherly said.

They were set to hold their annual Yuletide Dinners Fundraiser, where they cook food from scratch inspired by what was popular in the 1800s.

The event was held across the street at the St. Patrick’s Soup Kitchen, according to a post on their Facebook.

“I got a call a little after 5 this morning and learned from our executive director that smoke was pouring out of the building,” Sutherly said. “And we got here and our worst fears unfortunately were realized.”

Troy Fire Crews were called to the museum around 5 a.m. Saturday. A Troy Police Sergeant told News Center 7 that no one was inside when the fire started and no one was hurt.

“We’re mourning the loss of a lot of irreplaceable items inside that museum and obviously the significant damage that’s happened to the structure,” Sutherly said.

Hours after the fire, cleanup crews showed up.

The Owner of Complete Detail Cleaning and Restoration, Holdon Lingrell, said there would be a lot of experts looking at the future of the museum.

“There’s definitely some safety hazards that would be involved, especially on an older building like this,” Lingrell said. “There’ll be a lot of different experts to come in to take a look at this, different types of consultants and building developers and things like that to make sure that the structure is safe.”

Tonya Hittner, the Membership and Social Chair for the Historical Society of Vandalia-Butler told News Center7 that when she heard about what happened, she couldn’t believe it.

“A building can be rebuilt- but the loss of artifacts and the history that they’ve gathered and all the furniture, probably the specific things that belong to the Overfield, you cannot replace that,” Hittner said.

While the investigation and assessments of the building’s structural integrity are still in the early stages, museum officials have hope that the building can be restored, according to a post on Facebook.

Not all of the contents of the museum were lost, as many things from the kitchen will be saved, according to the post. Still, the damage was greater in other parts of the building and many contents were lost.

Troy Fire crews are still working to figure out what started the fire.

Sutherly told News Center 7 that he will be meeting with the rest of the Board members to figure out where the museum goes from here.

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