Blooming Grove Church Is Destroyed by Fire

Donated by Kyle Shoultz

It was like watching my own home burn,” is how one sorrowful member of the Blooming Grove Baptist Church expressed himself Saturday afternoon at the scene of the fire which leveled the 66 year old frame structure located northwest of McLeansboro.

Despite the efforts of the McLeansboro firemen, the building burned to the ground. The congregation held services Sunday morning at the Senior Citizens Center in McLeansboro. No decisions on rebuilding have been reached yet.

Church member K. P. Mitchell discovered the fire at about 3 p.m. Saturday when he went to the church and opened a door. He found smoke filled the building and he immediately called firemen.

Mitchell and others at the scene believed the fire may have been started from an overheated oil furnace. Firemen at first thought the blaze could be contained to the north part of the building, but it apparently was spreading through the attic area between the roof and ceiling.

At about 3:45 p.m. the roof fell in and it was only a matter of a short time the building was consumed. Before that, however. Church members and volunteers were able to remove seats nailed to the floor and to save a church piano and organ as well as church records. Other furnishings were removed, but items in one classroom including a 96 year old podium could not be saved as smoke thickened in the building. The library was also lost.

Responding to the fire alarm was a truck from McLeansboro fire department plus McLeansboro firemen and two trucks from the Wayne City rural department. Firemen used an estimated 2,500 gallons of water in the effort to save the building. At that firemen ran short of water once and had to wait for a Wayne City truck to return with a replenished supply.

Fire Chief Joe Swartz of the McLeansboro department told the Times-Leader he especially wished to thank Keith Webb and Wilburn Higginson who brought water trucks to the scene. He also added that Sheriff’s department did fine work in keeping roads open to the scene.

The Blooming Grove church structure that burned was constructed in 1904 and dedicated in 1905. However the original church building was erected in 1850 and the church is one of the oldest in Hamilton County.

Blooming Grove Church Fire-January 16, 1971

Recalled by K.P. Mitchell for the 150^th Anniversary Celebration

August 2000

At approximately 3:00 PM Sat. Jan 16, 1971, I went to the church to check on a thermostat. Went in the “Men’s Door” (SW corner), the ladies used the doors at the SE corner. Pearl says she and I was the first couple to start going in that door.

Upon opening the door, I discovered black smoke filled the building down to within about 2’ of the floor. Rushed down the basement steps, shut off the electric main.

Went outside to go to the class rooms, as I went I shut off the fuel tank valve. Went to the class room west door kicked it open and shut the door to the main building, shut the outside door and went to the east side and opened that door and shut the other main door. As soon as I shut the doors I jumped in my truck and went home blowing the horn all the way there.

Pearl came out to see what was wrong. Told her to call the fire dept. as the church was on fire. She called the fire dept. and then started calling other people, including the Risters as Gene was then the pastor.

Went back up to the church. Soon the fire dept. showed up and a lot of people came and started getting things out of the building. The seats were fastened to the floor but we started kicking them loose and got them all out. They were fairly new at the time and are still in use in this building today. As you can see pads have been added. Probably about 90% of the items in the church was saved including organ and piano. However the library and a 96 year old podium and numerous small items were lost.

It was believed at first that the fire could be contained to the class rooms on the north end of the church. However the fire burned up into the attic between the ceiling and the roof and came into the main part of the building. Due to the age, dry wood, and large open space it burned rapidly. The bell tolled once as it fell and the steeple collapsed. Of course it cracked from the heat and the fall. It is now on the bell tower out in the yard.

During the fire there was a loud boom. I said “What was that?” Someone said it was a fire extinguisher, it landed quite a ways out North in the field.

The Wayne City Rural fire dept came down. They sprayed water on the fuel tank so a chain could be fastened and drag the tank away from the burning building.

Besides the McLeansboro Fire Dept and Wayne City Rural Fire Dept, there were others that helped. Owners of the National Supply and some people with water trucks. It was estimated about 2500 gallons of water was used to try to put the fire out.

The top bell that is now out on the stand outside came from the Methodist Church building in Belle Prairie. John and I took a winch truck over there and took it down out of the building. The building had not been used for several years and the bell tower was quite rickety, so much so they had been afraid to ring the bell for several years. We raised it up and then had to borrow a hand saw from a neighbor to cut some boards to allow the bell to come down. The steeple did quite a bit of shaking but it came down OK.

Saturday afternoon after the fire some calls were made and we met in the basement of the Court House the next morning. However we could not meet there any more so after checking we were able to meet in the Senior Citizens building until we could meet in the new building. First meeting here was in the fellowship hall wing on Easter Sunday.

I believe it was either the fourth or fifth day they were able to work (due to the weather), they were putting the roof on. A lot of work was put in by a lot of people from the Church membership as well as others.

History of Blooming Grove Church

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