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Fire Destroys Historic Home In Williamson County

Posted at 5:51 AM, Aug 30, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-31 08:45:26-04

An historic home, dating back to the Civil War, has been destroyed after a fire broke out overnight.

A passerby traveling on Wilson Pike near Clovercroft Road noticed flames shooting from the roof around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday and called 911.   

Firefighters arrived and found the home fully engulfed in flames. They also had to remove power lines from the area before they could go any further.  

Construction on the Joseph Wilson home began all the way back in 1861. The home survived the Civil War, only to be lost in a fire. 

The home escaped a fire back in the 1860's during the Civil War when Union soldiers threatened to burn it down.

"Blind Joe Wilson the builder of the house checked everything with his hands and stopped construction on the house when Union Soldiers threatened to burn it down. Women in the home saw the Union soldiers coming down the street and fed them," said Robin Woalaver, one of the owners of the home.

The soldiers decided not to burn down the home, but Blind Joe Wilson.. never did finish that staircase.

"When we purchased it just one month ago it still didn't have a staircase. We had planned for one, so I guess that wont happen now," said Woalaver.

Wolaver owns the home with the Annie Moses Band. She said the home was being restored in hopes of turning it into a music school. 

“It’s a tragic loss because the history of it can never be reclaimed,” she said.

The cause of the fire was not yet known.

Officials have not ruled it suspicious; however, the Fire Marshal was called in to investigate. 

"We'll shovel and sift and get down and sift by hand and make sure we don't miss any evidence if there is anything there," said Fire Marshal Bob Galoppi, Williamson County Fire Dept.