Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1913-01-02
CONCERNING THE OLD crock
STORR.1

Hendersonville's older residents are
having to be re-introduced to "the old
rock store which has undergone a
complete Transformation at the hands
OF the carpenters and painters. AS
all good housewives are aware and
many others who do not belong to that
class, Mr.. w. NJ GULL has for quite
while conducted, and very successful
| ~ it may be added, grocery store in
the old rock store building. Mr.. GULL
! is a wide-awake merchant, thor
/ oughly abreast of the times. It oc-
CURED to him, as he watched Hender-
sonyille grow, to plag arize the pet ex-
| preston of our esteemed contempor-
| airy, Mr.. T. r.. Barrows, that the ''old
rock store" was too far behind the
times, too antiquated to suit his needs:
moreover, the approach to the old
/ rock store, steep fight of steps, was
inconvenient and drawback. Mr.
| GULL decided that in keeping with the
! spirit of progress that seems to i'm
| pregnate the very air in Henderson
| vile, change must come about. He
made known his wishes to Capt. N. G.
| Toms, owner of the building, a fore
most progressive and far-sighted citiz-
en-; and Capt. Toms fell right in with
the idea. Shortly after Mr.. GULL
moved temporarily to the store made
vacant by DR.. Hunter when his beauti-
full new drug store was completed.
The carpenters and the painters got
busy. First of all they tore away the
objectionable fight of steps, then they
lowered the store to a level with the
street and thoroughly remodeled the
interior. A beautiful lattice work
grill separates the front from the rear, !
new shelving was installed and all j
modern and suitable fixtures. The |
whole of the interior was painted a |
pure white, and now the "old rock |
store" presents about the neatest most !
attractive and Immediately clean ap-
pearance OF any grocery store you ever
saw. So much for the spirit of pro-
gressiveness that pervades Henderson |
vile and Hendersonville property hold |
ers and merchants.
brief resume or history of the old |
rock store may prove interesting. It'll
was back in the good old ante-bellum
days that Mr.. David B. Miller and his /
son, Andrew Miller, bought the block |
IN which Mr.. CULTS store stands and |
upon which then stood the old "Vir- !
gin House," an old-fashioned tavern |
extending along that section of the |
block where The First National bank, |
Miss NJ. e. WoodalI's store and Dr.. |
Egerton's Office now are Here they
had built "the old rock store" on Mr. !
Guills present site. According to the
statement of one or two pioneer citi- |
zens, it was the first store built in
town. Mr.. Miller and his son ordered |
general line of merchandise, |
hoop skirts, loaf sugar to |
snuff and proceeded to sell
goods" Charleston was the market
from whence these goods were pro-
cured and part came from Augusta
These markets bore the same sigpifi-
canoe to merchants in this part of The
world then that New York now bears
Unfortunately. the railroad from
Charleston only extended at that time
as far as Greenville, s. c., and from
| this point the goods had to be hauled
in wagons by four mules Now it must
be remembered that in those days peo-
pie bought whole sacks of coffee and
salt, barrels of sugar and other COM
modities in the same large proportion
and all of these necessaries must needs
be hauled this long distance by mule
power instead of locomotive steam
power. Contrasting this with our
present rapid and convenient mode of
transportation one cannot be too CRATE
full for the rapid march progress has
made.
In 1886 Capt. nj. c. Toms bought of
Lee and John Miller, sons of David
Miller, now deceased, "the old rock
store" It was afterward occupied by
Mr. w. II. Ray, now a retired mer-
chant and familiar figure on the streets
Of Hendersonville. Mr.. Ray kept
store" in the old building for many
years and supplied the needs of large
number of customers. One night in
some unaccountable way the store
caught fire and the interior was badly
damaged; however, the splend dly |
built rock walls remained intact. The |
building was repaired, but Mr.. Ray de- |
cided to give up the mercantile bust [
ness and retire to private life. Some |
time after, Mr.. GULL leased "the old |
rock store"and now since it's thorough |
renovation and Mr.. Guill's re-occu-
pancy it presents proud and festive |
appearance in it's remodeled vestments |
and pretty Christmas trimmings.
So much again for the rapid march |
Progress is making
u IL