"This is Columbia's oldest business operating under the same name, in the same location, with the same owner. Remember to put those three conditions," D.C. Mr. Waggener said, "or it might not be so."

Mr. Waggener did not know the exact date of the building's construction, but says he can not remember when it wasn't there, and he is 67 years old. He bought the building from David Heskamp, who had once sold Oldsmobile cars and GMC trucks from the building next door. At the time of the sale to Waggener, the building was being used by Mr. Heskamp as a casket storage warehouse for Grissom-Maupin-Heskamp Funeral own.

The building was once part of Bobby Collins' Collins' Buick agency, which was one of the best known Buick agencies in Kentucky while located there, and continued to be so after the Collins family moved to Hopkinsville, Kentucky to run a larger agency there.

It was also part of Feese Motors for a time. Willie Matt Feese operated a Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge business there prior to selling to Charles Giles and Dr. George Webb.

Other businesses may have occupied the site, Mr. Waggener said, but he could not name them.

Fire Expert Mike Glasgow said that the reason the building would continue to burn for so long is the "sleeper" joists under the floor, made of timbers 12-16" square.