Published: June 13, 2009 12:33 am      

Fire destroys landmark Anchor Inn

PATTON — A fire early Friday destroyed the Anchor Inn, a well-known Clearfield Township bar that was built nearly

50 years ago near Prince Gallitzin State Park.

The one-story structure was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, said George McGary, a captain with Patton Volunteer Fire Company.

A park ranger reportedly spotted the fire and called Cambria 911, McGary said.

The 911 center dispatched the first companies at 2:31 a.m.

The bar was closed at the time, and nobody had been inside, McGary said.

He listed the cause of the fire as electrical in nature, although he could give no additional details.

The L-shaped, block building was a total loss.

The building’s roof was partially collapsed when firefighters arrived, and the rest of the roof caved in while they were trying to extinguish the blaze, McGary said.

Because of the tavern’s rural location along Marina Road, water had to be brought in by tankers from about a mile away in the state park, he said.

In addition to Patton, seven other fire companies responded: Hope from Northern Cambria, Carrolltown, Ashville, Glendale, Loretto, Cresson and Irvona.

Kevin Gates, the tavern owner, could not be reached for comment.

Theodore Ott of Carrolltown, who had owned the bar from 1974 to 1990, said it had been built by the late Bob and Ethel Miller of Patton in the mid-1960s.

The structure has gone through several ownership changes since them, he said.

Ott, who is 75, said he added a pool room and dance floor after he purchased the bar.

“It was a hopping place at one time,” he said.

Ott said he received a call about the fire before 3 a.m. and decided to go to the scene.

“It was terrible to see,” he said.

“I had a fire there in the mid-1980s, but not like this.

“It’s no more now.”