Fire destroys 100-year-old tavern in Carterville

A fire Thursday morning gutted Shirley’s Tavern in Carterville, Missouri, a building which has quenched the thirsts and hunger of locals for more than 100 years.

The Joplin Globe reported the fire first was reported about 6:30 a.m., after the tavern had closed.

“It has been determined that the fire originated in a closet in the south section of the structure that contained two natural gas furnaces and a natural gas water heater,” said Mike O’Connell, a spokesman for the Missouri Division of Fire Safety. “They couldn’t eliminate a malfunction of either the furnaces or the water heater as being the cause of the fire.” Randy Sweet, a state fire investigator, made the determination at the scene.

O’Connell said the estimated damage to Shirley’s is listed at $100,000. The outside structure remains intact, but the interior was scorched, leaving only a few items salvageable.

The owners said they plan to demolish the structure and rebuild. According to KODE-TV:

“The biggest lesson that Shirley’s taught us is to love people where they’re at. Our plan is to build a Shirley’s “take two” essentially. I meant that was within 10 minutes of getting here, Mike and I were like ‘it’s not over.’ Shirley’s has been a staple of Carterville since 1983, we’re definitely not going to take that away,” says Ashley Wise.

Here’s the video report from KODE:

The Globe also researched a bit into the tavern’s history:

Before Shirley Almandinger established Shirley’s Tavern in the 1980s, the current owners said, the previous operation was named Frosty’s. It operated for about two decades and only served alcohol to male customers, according to Almandinger’s family. Before Frosty’s, the bar was called Budweise Bar. It had dirt floors and dated back to before 1916, the current owners say.

Shirley’s Tavern sat at 321 W. Main St. (aka Route 66) in Carterville. It was one of the few drinking establishments that predated the Mother Road.

(Hat tip to Ron Hart; image of fire-damaged Shirley’s Tavern in Carterville, Missouri, courtesy of Ron Hart)