Historic DC-Area Courthouse Burns

[eternalburn]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/03/national/main653362.shtml

[Occulus]

1. Symbolic, no?

[sniffa]

2. smeLLs Like reichstag

[bkcc]

14. We already had our version of Reichstag...it was 9/11.

[Blue_Tires]

3. sad...i used to live/work in PG County

and have been to the courthouse many times

[DulceDecorum]

4. At any rate, the papers within ought to survive.

Jan. 22, 2004 17:32 | Updated Jan. 22, 2004 19:01
Yediot Aharonot disclosed on Thursday that some months ago, sections of Ramon's personal diary -- handwritten in Hebrew -- during his last days on the ill-fated space shuttle were recovered in Texas by a Native American tracker. The pieces of paper had somehow survived 1,800-degree heat during the explosion that occurred some 60 kilometers above the earth.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1074745157839&p=1008596981749

The roof, on the other hand,
not being made out of paper,
is probably a total loss.

[davhill]

5. I lost a child custody case in that courthouse

Let it burn. Burn baby burn.

[NashVegas]

6. I Wonder What Secrets

are burning in that fire.

[harpo]

7. Burn mother fucker...burn

[RetroLounge]

8. White House next?

metaphorically, of course...

RL

[complain jane]

12. I have a few things I'd like to suggest metaphorically, too.

[durablend]

9. Look at the bright side...

Gonna need materials and more slave labor to rebuild it.

[complain jane]

13. Halliburton?

[sbj405]

10. That's my county

Good thing the bond for county buildings passed yesterday.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

19. Isn't that ironic?

Kind of makes you wonder...

[gardenista]

11. Wow, that's my old county. I've been in that court house.

How sad.

[On the Road]

15. I've Been There Too

it's still my courthouse.

[DS1]

16. Don't care, don't care, don't fucking care

Let it all burn, fuck it all

[LibertyLover]

17. PG County Courthouse

What a shame. When I worked for a private law firm in DC I had to go to this courthouse quite a lot to make filings or get copies of documents. I'm sorry to hear this happened.

[BeHereNow]

18. In the words of Susan Terrell in "Fat City"

"Well...isn't that just TOO perfect..."
bhn

[mahatmakanejeeves]

20. the local Fox affiliate,

WTTG channel 5, was the only station in DC or Baltimore that seemed to pay any attention to the fire. All the other stations were too busy with "Regis and Kathy Lee" et al. to send a remote broadcast van to the site. Channel 5 had its helicopter hovering overhead, sending back **astounding** video of the blaze. Good golly, was it intense. It was a three alarm blaze, with a good one hundred fire fighters in attendance.

The courthouse was being renovated at the time. I believe the first courthouse in Upper Marlboro was opened in 1721, so it is possible that centuries of impossible-to-replace records are gone forever.

Charlottesville VA had a huge downtown church fire in the winter of 1976-1977, and a historic church in Lexington VA burned down a few years back when a worker's torch started a blaze during a renovation.

You can be sure that long time county residents will be deeply saddened. Once those old buildings go, they're never coming back.