http://ozarkspub.vo.llnwd.net/o37/KSMU/audio/mp3/firedestro_1609.mp3
A fire totally destroyed a historic building in Thayer, Missouri Wednesday. KSMU's Jennifer Moore reports.
Residents of Thayer, in south-central Missouri, are lamenting the loss of what may have been the city's oldest building.
Frank Bernard, Chief of the Thayer Police, said the fire broke out at the historic building early Wednesday morning.
The building that was gutted was as old as the town itself. The town was built on the railroad in 1886 and was given the name "Thayer" to honor Nathaniel Thayer of Boston, an important stockholder in the Frisco railroad.
Local historian, Goldena Hanson, said she was shocked and saddened to hear the old building had been lost. Although most recently the building was used for apartments, she Hanson remembers when it was a general store.
Hanson said the architecture of the building was typical of the 1800s.
She said the building was precious to her and she feels a part of her history is gone as a result of the fire.
For KSMU News, I'm Jennifer Moore.