BRIDGEVILLE — The landmark Old Homestead Restaurant on Bridgeville Road was destroyed after an aggressive late night fire completely engulfed the more than 200-year-old structure on Wednesday.

The eatery had been closed for the winter.

Former Rock Hill Fire Chief Chet Smith told the Democrat that the initial call regarding the fire came in “about 10:15 p.m. Wednesday night.”

Regarding the cause of the “massive” conflagration, as he described it, Smith said, “I'm not in a position to even know that information… That would have to come from a chief. The place is in ruins and they're actually still working it [the fire as of 9:50 a.m. Thursday morning]… the chiefs are still there.”

Smith listed the responding departments: “Of course there was us [Rock Hill] and then there was Monticello, Wurtsboro, Bloomingburg, Woodridge, Woodbourne, White Lake… there were even some Orange County tankers on the scene. Silver Lake was on standby as of this morning and I may be forgetting a few.”

A call for manpower to report to the scene from the county's E911 Center went out to the Jeffersonville FD midmorning yesterday.

Sullivan County Public Safety Commissioner Dick Martinkovic said, “We had police there as the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office is the police department of jurisdiction... we did have EMS back us up, but there were no issues.”

He added, “About four times firefighters on the scene thought they had the fire out and each time it would pop up elsewhere, due to the building's construction. At one point they thought it was just the roof that was ablaze but once inside they realized the basement was involved as well.

“It was a big building so it was a big fire, and now it's completely destroyed,” he added.

Owners Paul and Alice Edelman were “on their way up from Myrtle Beach,” said longtime bartender Len Belaus when reached by telephone yesterday. He had no further comment.

A storied history

The structure that houses the restaurant believed to have been constructed in the early 1800s was formerly the Kinney Hotel - and prior to that, the Wayside Inn.

The restaurant's official website harkens back to the old days, explaining, “Once on the main artery to the Catskills from the New York Metropolitan area, Route 17 passed the front door of the restaurant. Overlooking the Neversink River, guests could see the two-lane, wooden covered bridge which was erected in 1807.”

Purchased by Fred and Florence Edelman in 1953, the couple operated the eatery until Fred's passing in 1959.

Upon Florence Edelman's retirement in 1977, son Paul took over the Old Homestead kitchen, while his brother Mark dealt with the restaurant's legion of loyal customers.

Mark Edelman retired in 2006, leaving the family business to his brother and his wife Alice, who have been running the Old Homestead to this day.

The Old Homestead was not only famous for its food, but also for its long-serving staff, including 50-plus-year bartender, Len Belaus, a profile of which this newspaper published in 2013, his 52nd year tending bar at the restaurant.

For the last 27 of those now 54 years, Belaus has been living in quarters above the Old Homestead.

Yesterday, Belaus said, “With the restaurant closed for the winter I've been staying with Paul and Alice. My plan was to return [to the apartment above the Old Homestead] in the summer, but with this…”