Community mourns Lake Wateree restaurant after ‘devastating’ fire destroys building
Remembrances poured out on social media from residents and tourists after Lake Wateree’s Dutchman Creek Restaurant and Marina was destroyed by fire Tuesday morning.
No one was injured in the blaze, but those with fond memories of the longtime lakefront establishment say its loss will weigh on the community.
Photos shared in Facebook groups dedicated to Lake Wateree have garnered hundreds of shares, likes and comments.
“This was mine and my husband’s favorite spot and now it’s gone,” wrote one commenter.
“I am so sorry. We live in Hartsville and always love going there to eat when camping at the State Park. Prayers that Nora will get to rebuild,” wrote another.
“A lot of people have good memories there,” said Mandy Mutzel, owner of the Wateree Lake RV Park and Marina across the water from the Dutchman.
Mutzel and her husband bought the marina last year. Many of her customers had shared stories of the Dutchman, raving about the food or simply glad to be making family memories at a cherished establishment. The first time Mutzel visited the eatery she did so at the behest of a customer.
“She had a little bit of everything in her store,” Mutzel said of Nora Martin, who has owned and operated the Dutchman restaurant since 2014.
The business opened in 1964 under the management of Charles and Martha Taylor and changed hands a number of times before Martin took over in 2014. Martin declined to be interviewed, directing questions instead to the local fire department.
Charles Taylor opened the store with the intention of offering something for everyone. He could often be seen with a cigar in his mouth and a firearm on his hip. He sold a variety of bait from grubs to crickets, as well as tackle, gasoline and fishing licenses, according to grandson Terry Willis. The business was an official weigh station during deer hunting season, and the Taylors even offered boat repairs.
“If they (customers) needed anything, it was right there at the marina,” Willis told The State.
Willis grew up “a military brat,” and so he traveled with his family often when his father received new assignments. Between every move, they visited the grandparents on Lake Wateree.
His grandfather was dedicated to the marina, opening shop 7 days a week from 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Willis remembers his grandfather being greeted most mornings by a line of fishermen, waiting for the doors to open.
“It became more than just passing money across a register,” Willis said. His grandparents ran the business for close to 40 years.
Dena Blake worked at the community stalwart two decades ago, first under the ownership of Mike and Ben Roberts, and then under Carl Patterson. When Patterson bought the business from the Roberts’, Blake helped with the remodel. She even lived in a trailer behind the store for a portion of the six years she worked at the Dutchman.
“It’s very devastating for me,” Blake said. “I helped build that.”
She said she believes the restaurant and marina’s loss will create a genuine void in the community — not only for the practical reason that it was one of the only places boaters could refuel on the lake. Longtime residents frequent it in the off-season, and tourists returning to the lake year-after-year fold the restaurant into their family traditions.
“Everyone in that community is very tight-knit,” Blake said. “When you move down to the lake it’s like a family.”
Firefighters arrived at the Dutchman Creek Restaurant and Marina around 4:15 a.m. Tuesday and found a building engulfed in flames. The fire department was notified about the blaze after a Fairfield County sheriff’s deputy encountered it while responding to a burglar alarm at the location.
It took roughly two hours for about 20 firefighters to control the fire.
The damage was too severe for investigators to identify a cause but there were no signs of arson, Fairfield County Fire Chief Jason Pope told The State Tuesday. Any further investigation into the fire would be conducted by the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office or an insurance company, Pope said.
This story was originally published December 29, 2021 at 2:29 PM.
