Historic Tracy City restaurant a total loss after fire
The Annex Cafe on fire Saturday morning. (Courtesy: John Hargis)
TRACY CITY, Tenn. (WDEF)- An historic restaurant in Tracy City has been deemed a total loss after a morning fire.
The Hargis family, who own The Annex Cafe, which has been in operation since 1935, says it caught on fire Saturday morning.
They say a grease fire started around 6 a.m. that had spread through to the second floor of the restaurant’s building
State Constable Kyle Collins says that numerous agencies responded from across Grundy County, and were able to prevent the fire from spreading to other nearby historic buildings.
The owners say they’re not sure if they will be able to rebuild the restaurant.
Collins says The Annex Cafe has been the center of Tracy City’s community.
“As of right now, the family is kind of regrouping, and they are reformulating what they want to do. Unfortunately, Miss Peggy, who ran that for many, many years, passed away, so it’s a re-experience for them to take a moment and take it in. The community will rally around them and we’ll do whatever it takes to help them get that back online,” said Collins.
No one was injured in the fire.
Owner John Hargis said in a Facebook post:
“As everyone is aware, our family lost another part of our family history. The town of Tracy City also lost a historical piece of its downtown history. The first license issued to the Annex Café dates back to 1975. Before that, my Papa Dolph Hargis’ brother Hobert and Trixie Hargis owned the restaurant, and before that, their sister Juanita and Andrew Campbell owned the business. So, I would honestly say this building has been in the Hargis family for over 65 years.
Our family would like to give a big thank you to the Town of Tracy City, Tracy City Fire Dept…, Tracy City Police Dept., Monteagle Fire Dept., Sewanee Fire Dept., Constable Kyle Collins, Grundy County Sheriff’s Deputies, Grundy EMS, 911 dispatch, and Theron Gross. These guys and gals sacrificed everything today to save the buildings in historic downtown Tracy City. Our family is very thankful for all y’all have done to protect other structures. We, as community members, need to support all of these volunteers. Our family says THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts! Only God knows what our future holds, and we will be getting the family together in the next few weeks to see where our future goes. Thank you to everyone who has called, volunteered to help with cleanup, and come by to offer their kind words during this time.
To our customers, that is really our extended family, we would like to say thank you for your loyalty and support over the past 65 years. We really appreciate you and without you guys and gals, this place would not be a historic part of Tracy City! Thank You!”
