Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Florida

Florida historic landmark Desert Inn and Restaurant slammed into by tractor-trailer

By Robert Gearty Fox News
Published | Updated
close
Fox News Flash top headlines for Dec. 22 Video

Fox News Flash top headlines for Dec. 22

Fox News Flash top headlines for Dec. 22 are here. Check out what's clicking on FoxNews.com

A historic building in central Florida was destroyed early Sunday when it was slammed into by a tractor-trailer, according to a report.

The accident happened at the Desert Inn and Restaurant in Yeehaw Junction, WPTV reported. The small town is near Okeechobee.

A tractor trailer slammed into the historic Desert Inn and Restaurant in Yeehaw Junction, Fla., early Sunday, according to a report.

A tractor trailer slammed into the historic Desert Inn and Restaurant in Yeehaw Junction, Fla., early Sunday, according to a report. (Michael Brown/South Florida Wanderer)

Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Kim Montes said Mareo Cawley, 50, of Chicago, was hauling orange juice at about 3:15 a.m. when he didn’t realize he had left the road before he smashed into the building, The Associated Press reported. Montes said the crash remains under investigation.

There was no word on any injuries, the station reported.

3 NEW JERSEY WOMEN KILLED WHEN CAR REAR-ENDS TRACTOR TRAILER

The site was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places 25 years ago.

Photographer Michael Brown shot pictures of the accident's aftermath and posted them on his Facebook page, the South Florida Wanderer.

The Desert Inn and Restaurant in Yeehaw Junction was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

The Desert Inn and Restaurant in Yeehaw Junction was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1994. (Michael Brown/South Florida Wanderer)

“The accident, I don’t know what happened, but for a truck to drive through it and lose another piece of history is sad,” Brown told Fox News.

The inn was built as a trading post in the 1880s for cowboys and lumberman, according to the Florida Department of State. The present building dates before 1925.

Emegency crews were investigating after a tractor trailer destroyed the Desert Inn and Restaurant in Yeehaw Junction, Fla., Sunday. 

Emegency crews were investigating after a tractor trailer destroyed the Desert Inn and Restaurant in Yeehaw Junction, Fla., Sunday.  (Michael Brown/South Florida Wanderer)

It has served as a saloon, restaurant, gas station, dance hall — and a bordello, WUCF-TV reported a few years ago.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

It was shuttered in 2018, according to reports.