185-year-old general store goes up in flames
RABBIT HASH, KY. The residents of this small Kentucky town who worked for decades to preserve the historic buildings of this river town are already planning to rebuild their iconic Rabbit Hash General Store after it burned to the ground Saturday.
In its approximately 185 years in existence, the clapboard store on Lower River Road in Boone County, Ky., withstood all manner of threats — multiple floods, landslides and the Great Depression, to name a few. Through it all, the store and its recognizable front facade remained an unmistakable landmark in Northern Kentucky culture.
The fire that began inside the building was too much for the old, mostly wooden structure, however. It burned throughout a nearly five-hour firefight in near-sub-zero temperatures and was destroyed.
The store had been in continual operation since 1831, according to the Rabbit Hash Historical Society — a span in which 38 U.S. presidents took office. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
As the building burned late Saturday, residents gathered nearby, some crying and one group singing Amazing Grace.
Firefighters were able to pull some merchandise from the store, but only a few larger pieces. Many of the pieces were charred or damaged by smoke. The front sign of the store was salvaged from the wreckage and stored in a nearby barn.
“The only way I can describe it is I feel like my mom died,” said Don Clare, vice president of the Rabbit Hash Historical Society. “It’s a devastation. I’ve always used the word ‘devastating,’ but you don’t realize what the word means until something like this happens.”
The historical society owns the general store and leases the building to Terry Markesbery, who runs the business inside. Clare said everyone in the historical society, Markesbery, and everyone he’s spoken to that make Rabbit Hash a destination are in agreement: The Rabbit Hash General Store will be rebuilt.
By Monday morning, a GoFundMe campaign had already raised more than $34,000 toward rebuilding efforts.