FAISONS OLD TAVERN – Pope’s Garage, a Northampton County landmark for 70 years, was destroyed by fire here Sunday night.

Northampton County Emergency Management Coordinator Ronnie Storey Jr. said the old garage was a total loss.

“Even though its days as a full-service garage were over, it’s still a landmark here in Northampton County; I remember my daddy talking about it back in the day,” Storey said.

He added that the call came in at 7:15 p.m.

“When I got on the scene it was already fully engulfed; there’s nothing left today other than the tin that was once on the roof and whatever metal was on the inside,” Storey noted. “It was an old weatherboard structure and when you add in all the oil that has soaked into it over the years you can imagine just how quickly it burned.”

Storey said the Pope family used the building for storage, to include a boat.

“We haven’t figured out an exact cause (of the fire), but I’m guessing it was electrical in nature….something perhaps just shorted out.”

Fire departments from Conway and Jackson responded, as did the Northampton County office of the NC Forest Service due to the fact that the blaze spread to a wooded area nearby.