Person of interest in custody after historic McIntosh County house fire

DARIEN, Ga. (WSAV) – A person of interest is in custody following a fire at a historic house in McIntosh County Wednesday evening.

Photos from the sheriff’s office show the Huston House on fire, with smoke coming from the top of the building. The flames have since spread.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, officials said.

The McIntosh County Sheriff’s Office is asking concerned citizens to allow space for first responders to work the fire.

“The McIntosh County Office of the Sheriff would like to extend our prayers for all the brave Firefighters working to preserve this historical building in McIntosh County,” the office stated.

According to the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, the Huston House, located on Butler Island, was constructed in 1927 by Colonel T.L. Huston, a former co-owner of the New York Yankees.

The house, currently owned by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division, is unoccupied, with no long-term plan for use or maintenance.

According to historian Hermina Glass-Hill, the house sits on “sacred ground.”

“This is the origin of the Weeping Time. Those 436 people, they came from this place.”

She said the plantation goes back nearly 200 years and is one of the rarest intact plantations on the Georgia coast.

“I just hate to think of losing this place,” Glass-Hill said tearfully.