Cotham's Mercantile in Scott has been destroyed in an overnight fire.
A deputy from the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office was dispatched to 5301 Hwy. 161 South in Scott at 11:16 p.m. Monday. According to the deputy's report, the Scott Fire Department was already there and working to extinguish the blaze.
According to the report, owner Scotty McNair said he had received a call from ADT, the alarm company, about several alarms going off at the business. But McNair said he "wasn't in a rush" because alarms going off at the business had been "a normal thing."
When McNair arrived, he found the building on fire and called 911, the report said.
The cause of the fire had not been determined as of Tuesday morning. But the deputy's report said Scott Fire Department Chief Ron Myers ruled out the kitchen as the source of the blaze, saying the fire started in the front of the building.
The building was a total loss.
Cotham's was built in 1917 and opened as a general mercantile store for farmers in the area. In 1984, the store opened a small restaurant area and quickly became a favorite for local politicians, including then-Gov. Bill Clinton. It was famous for its large "Hubcap Burger."
Larry Griffin, who owned the restaurant in the late 1990s, opened a second location — Cotham's in the City — in Little Rock in 1999. In 2001, Griffin's Cotham Mercantile Inc. sold the Scott restaurant to McNair's McNair Endeavors Inc.
Griffin died in 2004.
Arkansas Business has contacted McNair for comment and will update this story.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)