Village loses historic church

April 29--ST. FRANCISVILLE, Mo. -- Lightning is blamed for starting a fire that destroyed a beloved landmark Sunday.

The Old Stone Church, built in 1863 as a Baptist church, had been a tourist destination in the small, unincorporated village of St. Francisville, Mo., along the Des Moines River.

At 4:23 p.m., the Wayland, Mo., Fire Department received a call about the fire, which is believed to have started in the back corner of the church.

Firefighters from Kahoka, Mo., and Alexandria, Mo., also spent more than three hours trying to tame the flames.

No injuries were reported.

The old church has been under the care of the Clark County Historical Society since 1961 and all electricity to the building had been shut off.

According to a dispatch supervisor for Clark County, the fire departments determined the blaze was a result of a lightning strike from a spring storm passing through the area.

Christi Brown said she could see the flames from her kitchen.

"I just stood in my kitchen crying watching the fire," she said.

Brown and her husband of 19 years were the last couple married in the building.

"We heard a large crack and knew it was nearby. We didn't think it hit anything," said Morgan Glasgow, who lives next to the structure. "But then we noticed our neighbors were staring in our house's direction, so we went to go see what was going on."

The two-year village resident saw the roof of the building in flames.

She found the loss upsetting.

"I always wanted to see inside the church," Glasgow said. "Last night, I just watched as the stained glass melted and it fell apart."

Clark County Historical Society board member Kristy Fishback said the society's next step is to clean up the remains.

"There's talk of turning it into a park, but right now we just need to secure it," she said.

The building wasn't listed on a state or federal historic register, but Fishback said the society was close to putting the church on a list of Avenue of the Saints attractions.

"We were so close to putting in a tourism center and getting this to be a destination, and then this happens," she said. "It was never broken into. Everyone respected the church."

Fishback and Brown's family were putting up posts and signs Monday afternoon.

Glasgow said the fire looked manageable until someone entered the building.

"We saw someone go into the front doors and that's when the fire spread," she said.

Fishback said she was presented with items Sunday night that were in a glass case in the building.

Sunday wasn't the first time lightning struck the church. According to a 1970s article published by the Clark County Historical Society, it was struck twice during its construction, then two more times after construction was completed.

The old church was built of 20-inch-wide stones quarried locally. Regular services haven't been in the building since 1952.

The Old Stone Church was not the only area building affected by Sunday night storms.

Lee County Conservation Board Director Tom Buckley said his office building at Heron Bend is without electricity and phone service until further notice after being struck by lightning.

"Right now we're just waiting to hear back from our insurance adjuster," he said.

The building's siding also received significant damage.

Buckley suspects something hit a light post outside the building, frying the wires.

"All we know is that it happened during the weekend storms," he said.

For the time being, the conservation board can be contacted via cellphone at (319) 759-8614.

Keokuk County emergency management coordinator Larry Smith said a woman died in a rural area near Kinross when either a tornado or powerful straight-line winds caused a farm building to collapse. He said National Weather Service radar indicated some rotations in the storm, and its meteorologists still were assessing the intensity Monday.

Gov. Terry Branstad offered condolences to the family of the woman, whose name is being withheld pending notification of relatives, and those who were impacted by the storm.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and with all the people who have suffered losses as a result of this series of storms," he said at his weekly news conference in Des Moines.

The National Weather Service said the storms damaged a number of Iowa towns as gusts neared 90 mph and hail up to an inch in diameter fell on Sunday.

Smith said another person was critically injured near Martinsburg, when a barn was blown over and sent debris flying. The county has "widespread damage" to farm buildings, barns and machine sheds from the wind, which also snapped off about 10 utility poles in two locations.

An Oskaloosa family medical center also lost its roof during the storm, and two stores in Ottumwa also sustained roof damage.

Stefanie Bond, a spokewoman for Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said state officials continue collecting reports, but most the damage appeared to be to farm buildings.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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