By SABRINA SIMMS

NATCHEZ — On April 23, 1940, a fire at the Rhythm Night Club in Natchez claimed the lives of 209 people as the only available exit door to the building was engulfed in flames.

Rhythm Night Club Memorial Museum, 5 St. Catherine St., Natchez will hold a 78th year commemoration of the fire at noon Saturday.

Museum owner Monroe Sago said the annual event has been hosted at the original site of the dancehall since the museum opened in 2010, so future generations won’t forget what happened 78 years ago.

“You can look at the pictures and see both white and black people here, and this was the place to be,” Sago said.

“The Walter Barnes band played here from Chicago — one of the most popular black bands there has ever been. They came here on April 23, 1940, during a school graduation exercise that was done here …” he said.

Sago said Saturday’s commemoration is free to attend and will include food and drinks, live music provided by Natchez High School band members and former Miss Alcorn State University Jessica Hawkins is expected to attend as a guest speaker. Sago said scholarships and door prizes also would be given out during the event.

Sago said he and his wife, Betty, originally purchased the site with hopes of putting an auto body shop there, but were prompted by others who knew the history behind the location to create a memorial museum instead.

Since the museum’s opening in November 2010, Sago said he has seen and spoken to many of the survivors from the night of the fire.

He said no one knows exactly how many people were lost in the fire — 209 of the bodies were identified.

Five men were accused of starting the fire as a racial crime but charges were later dropped and it is now believed the fire was accidental and was caused by Spanish moss treated with a flammable pesticide.

Sago said the flames burned inside of the walls — beginning in a bathroom at the front of the building and spreading to the walls on either side. The windows were boarded up to prevent outsiders from listening to the music, but also preventing many people from escaping the flames.

Sago said he believes the Rhythm Night Club fire helped create a fire code that requires multiple exits used in modern buildings.

“This is part of history right here,” Sago said.