‘You cannot replace that;' Ohio's oldest log tavern goes up in flames; cause now determined

Yahoo

19-03-2025

The Ohio State Fire Marshal has released its final report on the fire at the Overfield Tavern Museum, the oldest building in Troy and the oldest log tavern in the state.
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As previously reported by News Center 7, the Overfield Tavern Museum caught fire on Dec. 7.
Museum officials shared part of the report on social media this week, where the state fire marshal said there was 'no evidence of criminal activity related to the origin or cause of this fire' and ruled the cause as accidental.
>> PHOTOS: Historical Overfield Tavern Museum destroyed in fire
The fire originated in or around the boiler room, which is in the center of the building. That area contained electrical and mechanical systems and the storage of combustible items and cleaning supplies.
'As the fire developed, it spread to other common combustibles and structural members of the building, moving in an upward and outward direction from the boiler room, with the intensity and severity of burn damage being more severe near the boiler room, lessening in severity as you move away from the area of the boiler room,' the post stated.
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The Overfield Tavern Museum was built in 1808, and many of the things inside were irreplaceable.
'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 previously told News Center 7.
Sutherly said their 'worst fears unfortunately were realized' when he and others associated with the museum got the the scene of the fire.
'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.
Last week, crews demolished what was left of the most recent additions to the tavern.
Officials said they would save the original log building and renovate the log house, as well as the log tavern area.
The Troy Foundation gave the museum a $75,000 grant, but the museum said it would cost a lot more than that to rebuild.
The museum will be holding a silent auction on March 29 where officials will be deaccessioning a few hundred items from our museum's collection.
'This is a critical step in our long journey back from the December 7, 2024 fire that devastated our museum,' officials shared on social media.
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