BEAVERTOWN -- The former Beaver Lutheran Church went up in flames early Tuesday morning in Snyder County.
The place was supposed to be a museum honoring the late Monkees singer Davy Jones. A fan of the Monkees lead singer bought the landmark with the intention of renovating it into a museum.
The building, now a pile of rubble, was filled with Davy Jones memorabilia as it was in the process of being turned into a museum to honor him.
Flames could be seen all over Beavertown as it took the former Beaver Lutheran Church just minutes to burn down.
Robert Werner took video around 2 a.m. After firefighters put out the smoke and flames, there's not much left of the former church in Beavertown. It was built in the 1880s and was once owned by Davy Jones of the Monkees.
Cathy Whitehead bought the building after Jones died in 2012 and was in the process of turning it into a museum in his honor.
"I wanted to make his dream come true, what he wanted this to be. He wanted this to be a musical venue, he wanted this to be a museum," Whitehead said.
Whitehead and another man lived in the building but made it out safely. What did not survive was the large amount of Davy Jones memorabilia inside, items fans had sent from all over the world.
"Photo albums that they had made, special scrapbooks that they had made, a lot of people had shared their books that Davy had signed for them."
Not all of the memorabilia was lost. Firefighters were able to save a bed, which Davy's daughters used to race in and donated to Cathy.
"It's still a piece of memorabilia that reflects Davy and the love his daughters had for him," Whitehead added.
In 2000, Newswatch 16 stopped by the church with Davy Jones. He lived in Beavertown for over 20 years while he wasn't touring.
"He wasn't a stranger in this area," Rhonda Fisher said. "people all around here knew him."
According to a state police fire marshal, the cause of the fire is undetermined but he does not believe it was suspicious. Whitehead says she planned to open the museum next summer.
"I just rang the bell last night at 7:30, 7:45 and now the bell's gone."
Cathy Whitehead says she spoke to some of Davy Jones' family members and they told her the memorabilia was just "stuff,' and they are glad she is OK.
Whitehead still plans to build some kind of memorial for Davy Jones in Beavertown.