This browser does not support the Video element.
Historic farmhouse goes up in flames
FOX 13's Carla Bayron reports.
KATHLEEN, Fla. - A historic farmhouse that was considered a local landmark to many in Polk County is now no more after a fire burned it down Tuesday evening.
It was called the "Old Tucker Home" and it was located on Kathleen Road and West Campbell Road.
What we know:
Shortly after 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Polk County Fire Rescue responded to the fire at the historic farmhouse on private property at Kathleen Road and West Campbell Road.
Thankfully, the Old Tucker Home was vacant and no one was hurt. However, it was a rich piece of history that's now gone forever.
The backstory:
"The best I can determine, it was probably built around 1900. The Tuckers married in 1878," said Lois Sherrouse-Murphy, the president of the Kathleen Area Historical Society.
Sherrouse-Murphy says Joseph and Martha Tucker, who were native to the area, lived in the home. They were both born in the 1850s and had four children.
"He initially was a telegraph operator, and later he was a minister at Kathleen Baptist church, where he was active for many years. He died in 1942," said Sherrouse-Murphy. "His wife, Martha, was a Hancock which is a very old pioneer family of the area."
Sherrouse-Murphy says there are a few historical homes left in the Kathleen area. Preserving the house wasn't really an option because doing so would be very expensive.
Unfortunately now, this connection to the past is gone.
"I think for most people it conjures up a link to the past and who people were who lived there and what life must've been like at the time so it's kind of sad," she said.
What's next:
Surviving for more than a century, now the 'Old Tucker Home's' legacy lives on through photographs.
The State Fire Marshall is investigating the cause of the fire.
The Source: Information from this story comes from an interview with Kathleen Area Historical Society by FOX 13's Carla Bayron.