ESSEX COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — It’s been one year since a fire in Tappahannock destroyed three buildings and damaged several others, including decades of work by one local artist.
On July 15, 2022, the Tappahannock Fire Department received a report of smoke inside the Martin Sale Furniture Store on the 200 block of Prince Street. The fire is believed to have started on the upper level of the building, and remained active for several hours.
The fire — which destroyed several businesses in the town’s historic district — was battled by more than 100 firefighters from multiple jurisdictions.
George Jennings, the owner of an art studio that was lost in the fire, is now owner of new art studio that stands right across the street from where his former space once thrived.
“It was a tough thing to watch to say the very least,” Jennings said.
He remembers flames coming out of several buildings last summer.
“We just watched it get hotter and hotter, closer and closer. I mean it was just a perfect storm of a disaster,” Jennings said.
Jennings said the fire destroyed about 80 of his framed original paintings, 90 unframed original paintings and 55 to 60 years of architectural design and construction documents.
“It was like somebody took an eraser and just erased about 60 years of my life,” he said.
Other businesses damaged or destroyed in the fire include Martin-Sale Furniture Store, a real estate agency, a restaurant and hair salon.
Though the rubble has long been cleaned up, the site is still empty lot with fencing around a small section and small flower gardens in the open green space.
A few businesses have picked up and moved to other locations.
The town of Tappahannock received a $250,000 grant awarded by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. The money came from Virginia’s Industrial Revitalization Fund.
The money from the grant went towards renovating Emerson’s Ordinary, a tavern that dates back to 1710 and is believed to be one of the oldest remaining buildings of its kind in Virginia.
Other grants from the town and its Main Street Association allowed people and businesses directly impacted by the fire to start over in new homes.
“I mean everybody chipped in. It really, in that respect, was beautiful. It’s a tough way to find out what’s beautiful but it was really fantastic,” Jennings said.
Fire officials have still not confirmed a cause for the fire.
8News asked town leaders if and when anything would be built to occupy the site where the fire caused damage, but did not recieve an answer.
