Cemetery building burns down in McClain County
Cemetery building burns down in McClain County

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By James S. Tyree

Published: July 25, 2008

COLE — A building that marked the former black settlement of Jerusalem burned to the ground today, about a week before it was to host a reunion.

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The building, which once housed a Baptist church, was next to the ghost town's cemetery on State Highway 74B, east of Cole in north-central McClain County. People with ties to the area planned to meet for a reunion on Aug. 2.

McClain County Detective Dan Huff said the fire was reported about 6 a.m. Cole volunteer firefighters were at the fire by 6:15 and found the building "totally engulfed in flames."

The fire was under control by about 6:45, but nothing was left of the simple historic building.

Huff said the fire is being investigated. While arson is a possibility, a state fire marshal did not immediately find evidence of it and the cause, for now, is undetermined.

Jerusalem was a five-acre plot given by Chickasaws to freed slaves in the 1800s. The cemetery, still maintained by Oklahoma City resident Joel Bradford, was founded in 1906 and the church was believed to be about the same age.