Thursday, July 10, 2008

a little piece of history

our town brims with relics from the past. i love exploring these old buildings, feeling the connection with those gone by.

this is ezell hardware. it started it's life in 1886 as a general merchandise store run by the ervin family.
in the early 1900's the murphy family bought the store and changed it to a hardware store. This arch shows where two stores were connected to make one.




in 1943 she changed hands again after being bought by the richardson family.


mr. m.b. ezell became the owner in 1955. many of the original bins are still in use.





after twenty years in the hardware business mr. ezell sold his store to the current owners, mr. barry wilson and wife. They proudly keep the store open six days a week, year 'round.

this table bears the battle scars from years of glass cutting.




deeds, money, all the paper trails of the merchants' lives must have filled this old safe.



how many calloused hands operated this beauty? cha ching!



this is a newer addition and welcome, i'm sure, on those cold winter days.
wandering this old building you can almost hear the impatient shake of harnesses as the horses wait outside the door, hear the heavy tread of well worn workboots on the wooden floor, and catch a glimpse of an old gentleman in faded coveralls, white shirt crisp for his visit to town, tip his hat as he fades back into the past.





1 comment:

Kim Carney said...

what a fabulous place! I miss having pieces of history that you can walk into and smell and touch. Nothing like that here