1920's General Store Still Standing in the Mountains of East Tennessee: We Go Inside 

When I was born in 1962, this is the house my parents lived in. So this was my first home. Andy McCullah was also my great grandfather. My dad's mother, Lizzie, was one of Andy's daughters. My Grannie Lizzie would baby sit me and I remember looking out the back kitchen window with her. We had a coal stove for heat and our bedroom was where the bedroom is now with the bunkbeds. The living room was in the same place and so is the kitchen and the front bedroom. No bathroom, just an outhouse. My dad is 84 years old and he still mows the yard there. When Robin took the old windows out to put in new ones, my dad got one of the old windows. It has 6 panes. I painted the frame and turned it into a collage with pictures of his family in it for him. I remember walking over to the store and getting candy and bubble gum, and watching my Great Aunt Ruth make bologna sandwiches. She would slice off a big piece of bologna from a roll and put it on bread with some JFG mayonnaise. I'm so glad Robin has fixed the old house up and it's still in our family.

Those old country stores were once the back bone of every rural community in the South. I'm blessed to be old enough to remember many of them here where I live.

I grew up in West Virginia with two country stores near our home.. Both on dirt roads . But one sold gas & that was the one we usually patronized. They also sold feed & fencing & hardware .. I loved the smell of the old building mixed with the smell of feed ,hay & such. We'd walk barefoot to the store & buy a RC Cola or a candy bar.. Most who lived in our area bought on credit from the old couple .. On the 1st of the month , many retirees would come in to pay their bill.. The elderly couple who owned the store lived behind the store.. Our home was heated with coal & wood & when they could no longer bring in their own firewood , my brother & I would cut a few loads & stack it in the wood shed.. They always tried to pay us , but my dad would'nt take money.. But he always gave my brother and I a couple of dollars . A couple miles further down the road , there was an abandoned old country store ..We used to walk that old road with washouts & ruts where there were old shacks , barns & log cabins scattered through the hollow.. We used to pick delicious apples from a long forgotten orchard every summer.. The road was no longer maintained by the country , but that old abandoned store was owned by the parents of the elderly lady who now owned the store near us .. She would tell us about the old days . Folks came in to buy a pound of flower from a barrel...or a pound of butter. And many other items such as pickles were stored in barrels.. Very few owned a vehicle , so most came by horse... She said the first time she saw a truck come down the road it nearly frightened her to death.. It was an old log truck with no muffler & to her it was a monster... I believe she was born in 1905 . So this must have been 10/12 yrs later when she saw her 1st vehicle.. The old store had stopped selling gas when I was a young teenager in the 70's because the old pumps & storage tanks didnt meet EPA standards . They could'nt afford the many thousands of dollars to put new tanks in.. But , they still made a living from the store.. Miss Edna , as we called her , had a 56 Buick she really loved.. They drove it til they could no longer drive.. Mr Ed , (not the horse) had a ford truck he drove ...it was a 61 Ford. I still remember the old wooden floor worn down where people walked . Just imagine how much traffic it took to wear those old floors down to half its original thickness... My dad worked a factory job & ran the family farm . My brother & I would sell eggs , green beans & potato's to the store . Anything to earn a few dollars . The old store finally closed when they were in their 80's. I went back about 25 yrs ago & the old store & house were gone.. The road is now paved & many houses built where hay fields & pasture once were... We were country kids that worked our chores & went to church on Sunday . We're all scattered to the wind now.. My dad is still living at 85.. My mother passed.. My older brother lives in Montanna , my sisters in Tenn. & I live in Tx.. I've traveled all over the world & seen every one of the lower 48 states. But my memories of the people & growing up on a dirt road , falling asleep on a summer night to the trains & river barges will always be with me.. Those really were the good ole days.

Wow! What a beautiful place to live, the pictures of the store and grandmother sitting outside is timeless. What a wonderful piece of history. Well done to Robin for preserving this piece of history. It’s so rare nowadays to see something like this. Best wishes from Ireland 🇮🇪

I just love these old buildings. I grew up near an old country store. It was within walking distance and one of my greatest memories was walking to the store and getting penny candy and winky bars. I live in an old house built in 1890. You can smell the old wood when you walk up on the front porch. I just love it.

I remember my grandma bringing me with her to this store when I was a little girl. I remember that it always smelled like 3muskateer candy bars. It was great, wonderful memories.

I was born on Stinking Creek, in Habersham. My Dad and the doctor waded through the creek to get to our tiny house on the side of the ridge. My Dad drove a truck for the coal mines.

I hated history in school. I love this kind of history now as an adult. I hope they can preserve the building. Thanks for sharing.

I remember when I used to ride motorcycles along the Appalachian Mountains back in the 70's, 80's and early 90's from PA to North Georgia and you would still see these old stores out in the middle of nowhere. I knew they were special then and am thankful I got to see some of them before they disappeared.

I'll give my total respect for anybody that lived years ago they work so hard and they had such great morals and such helping hands to help everybody and I love the video and I think we should restore old things like that I remember going to Old stores in Tennessee growing up and God bless everyone

That old store is a beautiful piece of Americana. I hope they're able to restore it to it's former glory. And what they did with that old house is absolutely amazing! Beautiful job!

Awesome~ I lived in Columbia Tn., for 17 years and now live on an island in Nothern Mi., in the UP. Thanks for the memories!

I just love driving through old towns or back highways and looking at old buildings and bridges and wonder when and who built them 🥰 the families who grew up in them ❤

Awe ❤my grandparents the Williamson’s lived on Stinking Creek! I remember the long gravel drive back to their place. Beautiful 🤩

She and her husband done a wonderful job restoring that house.

My mother was raised around Elk Valley and knew of this area because her uncles worked in the coal mines and a few uncles ran a moonshine still. Thank you for sharing this memory about East Tennessee. My mother's parents were Walter and Hattie Russell. There are a lot of kinfolk that were married into the Russell clan. Thank you for the memories. the house looks awesome, Glad that you were able to buy the family land from your aunt.

Remembering some of old old stores. Several in the rural area of where I grew up in the 50’s-60’s. I can still close my eyes and imagine the crowded little store, the country smells, the “smell of old”.

My dad took me here as a tot with my grandfather, wow , Thnkxz for the flashback of good memories of better times of my life.

I just love the house. And the store. You are truly blessed to be able to have had this in your life. Beautiful scenery everywhere you look. I love it ! ❤

Sweet TN woman! Wonderful to see preserved history / culture. Way too much of the southern history has been let go. They're good people.

3:56 when the door was opened on the store it took my breath away. I was instantly transported back in time. Thank you for a great experience. I grew up 87 miles away in Morristown TN.

That was just an amazing episode! I would love to go back in time and live in a community with a few hundred people like that. Times were hard but people took care of each other. Thank you for your channel. It is awesome!

Robin thank you so much for sharing your families history. I loved seeing the store and the house , my wife & kids and I are getting ready to move to Tennessee. !! Can’t wait !!

Before I watch the rest of the video. that old store is not messy at all! Be so cool if there was a way to preserve those signs. Now I watch the rest of the video

Beautiful place, and I love the old store. Its really nice to see these old properties with the out buildings intact. Up in PA we have alot of houses with 2 front doors. One of the doors led to a room that was used when someone passed on. The body was kept in there for a day when visitors could pay their respects and the family could still have some privacy in the rest of the home. Thanks to you all for sharing this history and your home. God bless!!

The blessing of having family with land and property.

Andy McCullah was the preacher who married my grandfather and grandmother in 1930. He started a congregation that became part of the Church of God (the one based in Cleveland, TN). My dad's sister and her husband (Jean and Delmas Baird) lived in this house for a while around 1976/77, and a few years later their son Danny and his wife Faye and their daughter Amy moved in and lived here for several years. Danny was one of those teenagers who would drive up to Ruth's gas pump, blow his horn and holler for her. When she came down the stairs and across the road, he'd get 50 cents or a dollar of gas! I'm surprised Ruth let him move into the house after that! 🙂 My grandparents bought their house on Stinking Creek the year before I was born, a house within walking distance of Ruth's store. We spent many weekends and vacations and holidays there. Christmas, even now, makes me want to be on Stinking Creek.

I lived in Stinkin' Creek when I was a kid; born in Campbell County. These pictures bring back my childhood.

My grandparents had 200 acres in Boggs WV. I went there one time and carried bags of apples where we lived in Tioga. The house me and my granny lived in I so wish I had some of things we had. The property was sold after my granny passed. If I had been an adult I would of bought it love your vl videos. Brings back memories. Wish things would of stayed the same. Beautiful house. Hope they restore the store. If she does I will come run it for her. Wouldn't that be awesome in honor of her grandmother

I am so delighted to see this rare look into the history of life in rural areas of the people of the mountain people, during the turn of the century. Many areas even where I was born and raised in the very northeastern Adirondack Mountains, of New York State. This area was much like where the way of life was here. Those little stores were not only to buy things, but a big part of the social circle to the people who lived in the area. Great video.

A Great Story about your Family God Bless You 👍 God Bless America 🇺🇸

I'm a New Yorker but it's so great to see our history still there when life was much more easier and as somebody else that loving and this is where really it all began in our history things are going great only if we can go backwards instead of keep going forward life would be a whole lot better my biggest thing is things that work in the past people have to change why change things that work so great it God bless the people that made this video video is amazing I'm always looking for stuff like this online to see my history and everybody else's history tomorrow so God bless

I love going back in time and remembering the building is in stores and old memories of things that used to be thank you for sharing your story it brought back a lot of more memories God bless you all

Outstanding, a simpler time from yesteryear. I love to see and hear all stories. A big thank you for preserving in a day and age when many are too fast to knock down Paradise and put up a parking lot, and lastly thanks for sharing this truly amazing story! ✌️

My family settled in East Tennessee before it was a State. I grew up in the 60s in Johnson City. It’s changed so much I hardly recognise it. Like many East Tennesseeans I moved to Texas. Proud of my deep roots. One of my great grandfathers ran a store with a blind tiger in Jonesboro.

Thank you Ms. Robin for sharing with us. The property is amazing. I truly miss the woods and country. God bless!

What a gem! Please restore it .. it would be such a thrill to walk back in time

Beautiful place and a lovely and generous young lady for sharing with us. Thank you so much.

Her grandfather would be very proud . Good video thank's.

That is just awesome I love seeing these old places don’t see many people restoring them no more

If this little store could be restored, what a wonderful place it would be for local artist to display and sell their wares. I am a potter in SC and would love to come across a little gem of history like this to sell my work!

We moved to Cary NC bout 20 years ago. It’s built up a lot but it’s old store in Carpenter in Cary still stands and is still run by the family. So neat to go in a get things. I thought of that store when I saw this video. Love these old buildings and their history! Thanks for posting!

Going back in time....is timeless thank you

Damn, I fell in love with this location immediately. Life is better when simpler🙏

What a beautiful place!! Y’all really did a good job on the pretty wrap around porch/house. Way to nice for a huntin cabin to me! Those guys would have to get somewhere Else I’d be Livin there!! ✌️

Such a neat piece of Tennessee history! I live in North western TN. I wasn't raised here, moved here in 2006. I really love hearing the history. The main street of the town I grew up and went to High School at burnt to the ground a few years ago, tragic. I haven't been back to see it. That is why history and historic channels are so important! Nope, much more expensive to renovate someone else's mess, lol! My husband does it for a job! Wiring is always a nightmare in old homes to update it! Jill Gross

Awesome thank you

What a sweet lady! She did really good being on camera to . I bet that building was for canning and smoking. No where they stored there canning in there. It get to hot and cold . I love how they kept the old metal on the underside of the porch. I have cut old metal and used it for grid drop ceilings. Use different old metal instead of the white pads

Hi from Ontario Canada🍁. I really enjoyed😊 watching your channel for my first time. This is a beautiful home🏡.

Very interesting she is so lucky I would love to have a house like that and old general store

Beautiful! Heaven on earth! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Love they preserved and brought the store and the home back to life. And wrap around porches rock!

Loved the video thank you and Robin is absolutely beautiful

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the name of this Town!!! So ADORABLE!!!

Thanks for sharing stuff like this. Much appreciated. I love buildings like that and the history explained. Thank you.

Just found your channel. I so enjoy when folks are trying to preserve what our parents and grandparents had. I remember the old stores we rode in my grandfather's wagon pulled by two mules to get supplies. Daddy bought him a truck but wouldn't have anything of it. You ask about the two front doors there were most likely two rear doors. Dad was baby of 16 kids the last to leave home. Maw and Paw had 4 room house with two seater out house. 4 doors were for ventilation dad said they all stayed open in spring and summer.

Thank you so much for posting the story behind this place.

I loved the house, it is a beautiful place. I always wanted a wrap around porch. I think they are very pretty houses.

How much fun to buy and fill the old store with actual products/product containers, drinks and things an early store would have. And love the old Train Bell on the wrap-around porch❣️

my mother lived down in that area and my grandfather worked in them mines I believe I remember her always talking about stinking creek

IT IS NOT A MESS IT IS HISTORY . My parents house in PA which I still own had a hand pump in the kitchen and still has the original wood cookstove in the kitchen and pt belly stove i the living room and yes an outhouse . Aunt Helen and Uncle Ivan gave my parents the house on their farm before I was born in 1953 . It also had a summer kitchen off the back of the house .

Just came across your channel and I'm sure glad I did. My grandpa had a small country store in the early 1900's. Had some kinfolk who remember a special wood box that he kept cough medicine in? I still have that box been a little cough medicine in it still through the years every now and then. My GGG grandparents all farmed and had some type of a general store. I can remember my Grandma giving canned goods to friends or anyone in need. Just had to promise to bring her mason jar back. God bless this lady for preserving this piece of history. I live in the house my GG grandpa built around 1872. It's no where as nice as as the one Robin remodeled with prefect taste. Great job on the house Robin! I upgraded what needed to be and kept it close to what it was when built. I still heat it with a wood burning stove but now that I've got quite a few decades under my belt I do set the thermostat so I don't have to keep it stoked during the night. I never pass up a ole country store I might come across anytime I might travel. Just to take a look and talk with the people about the history of it. Thanks for the video!!!!!!!

They did a very nice job with the renovation of the house. By the way; the phone had it's power source though the line.

Thank you for sharing your story with us.

I love old country stores. We have some here in Chatsworth, Georgia. Most are falling in. Maybe one, or two is still standing.

Great job restoring your home place.

That's a beautiful house I live in west Virginia I use to see and live in places just like this but sadly not anymore

My husband and I have come to enjoy watching these videos at night when the house is quiet, we live in south Georgia. My twin and her husband and family live in the mountains of Tennessee. My husband and I enjoy traveling the back roads, looking for General stores. I often see a lot of empty stores, lot of towns just have the older residents that came back after they retired. We enjoy meeting people, hearing their stories. Those old General stores have a lot of History. It's good to see the houses being restored and lived in again, some of the General stores fixed up and in use again. So after coming back watching your videos, it seemed only right to subscribed. It don't cost nothing to subscribe, like and share. So I did. I can spend hours till bed time watching these videos. Brings back a lot of memories. Once the children are in bed, the house is quiet. Is when I enjoy watching videos like these. Not much on TV worth watching anymore, and your videos have left a smile on our faces. We can turn out the light, say our prayers, and Thank God for another day. We are not city people, we love small towns and country life. God Bless, Thank you Mr Ward for these wonderful videos about wonderful people and places.👍💯❤️👏👏👏. Love,Respect,And Positivity Always. Vee,Andrew, and Family.🙂🙂💞✌️🖖💞👋.

I love scenes like this. It's literally like looking back into a mirror of time, with all the people and events of the era.

I'm from franklin ohio,and we lived on a place called the hill top. This would be in the late 60s thru around early 90s. Well,,there was a old place called poor abes trading post ! It was a Kentucky style general store back in the day ,but they were only selling certain staples like ice cold pop , bread ,canned goods,and candy! Dad told me that before I was born that they had just about any and everything!even had a deli ...but now ,abe and his wife nellie were getting up in age ,so they sold pop,candy chips ect...abe had one of those tip boards and had a prize every month it was usually something from his warehouse slash living space where he had amassed quite huge hoard.. he and Nellie would sit in their chairs around a old pot belly stove ,with only a radio....... Honestly ,I could go on and on and tell many tails about this but just wanted to say that your video brought back many memories, thank you.

John, I went to school with you and, I knew you were interesting back then! Love what you do! God bless everyone, and everything!

She was so nice. Love her house.

Great segment, been across "Stinking Creek" many times on I-75 👍

You do such a wonderful job with these videos! Reminds me of how things used to be! Such a simple way of life. A lot harder but simple..

Lovely story to match the lovely land and house restoration. ♥️

Watching in Scotland - I so enjoyed seeing this. Really lovely that Robin has preserved her heritage like this. Such a beautiful place, thank you for letting us see around. Best wishes 🤗

Really beautiful old Home,,,

i do so enjoy you channel and content. I was born in Georgia, but was raised in East Tennesse. Your content brings so many fond memories and love. Thank you!

I'm from West Tennessee but I've always loved the mountains in East Tennessee and the history. Thanks for sharing this story and taking us back to the past when life was hard but it was so much better than it is now. I love what you have done with the house, it's beautiful and I would love to have that wrap around porch on my 112 year old house.

Thankyou for sharing. Lovely to see old places.

By the way I love your videos. I share them . Because channels like this need to be out there . People need to see where we came from.

Thanks for sharing your home & family’s story. Beautiful heritage!

Nice job Robin i love that folk's want to preserve the history !

Thank you for sharing this video. My daddy was from Wynn, mommy from Westborne and my paternal grandparent's lived in Duff. My stepmother was from Habersham. My grandparent's house had two front doors too. I never knew why. I miss all of my family getting together. Grandma didn't have a inside bathroom until the mid to late 60's. My daddy and his twin always tried wrecking a train on the tracks with a coin or handing grandma's dishes out of her China cabinet through a window to bust with a hammer 🔨. I always loved being at my grandparent's house. Grandpa and I would walk up to the big church on that big steep hill to attend church. We had plenty of cousins to play with and lots of things to explore. Grandma wouldn't let us go to jimi Green's store, so my sister and I went down to the creek then climbed and crawled across that big rope and wood bridge that crossed the creek. Up the embankment to grandma's road called Catula then go get candy. She couldn't see us because a big rock mountain wall blocked us. After we crossed that bridge again on our hands and knees to go back to grandma's..we said it wasn't worth it and we never did that again. 😂 There's a lot of good memories to look back on.

I loved the Stinking Creek area. I taught school there for a little while before it closed in the mid 90's.

My dad built a house from a old store that was 100 years old in 1960. He put the foundation on stumps or rocks. 2 rooms of the original house is still standing

What a treasure! I love to visit this area with my husband and we drive the backroads. We are going to the NC/TN area in a couple of weeks.

Beautiful I love it! Thank you so very much from Seattle 🤗♥️

Thank you so much for preserving this beautiful Content. I’m fascinated with Appalachian history I think it’s very important that needs to be preserved. I was also born in 1962 as someone above has mentioned.❤

Brought back many memories of staying there!! Brought tears to my eyes. Looks beautiful! Had so many fun night coming from the assembly in jellico! ⛽️⛰

Very cool! I soo hope she preserves it as much as possible and please do not let the roof leak

What a great video. Thanks for sharing this gorgeous piece of history!

Thank you for preserving this history ❤

My Great-Great- Great Grandfather, Fielding Lowe is, well I can’t say buried because he is above ground, like a Indian. He is in Stinking Creek cemetery. I love the history of the Appalachian mountains, both sides of my family history goes way back in Jellico, Campbell County, Tn. ❤

Wow what a beautiful place.

Nice video love old store and in buildings always interesting

Houses built in the 1920s, 30s and 40s often had two front doors because either the house was a duplex or there was a sleeping room with a private entrance to rent out. This was a way for a family to gain some extra income, especially during the Depression. A boarder might also be able to use the kitchen or eat meals with the family for an extra fee. My grandmother ran a boarding house like this during the Depression to help feed/care for her own family.

Beautiful, beautiful place. If you ever put it on Air BB let me know. I would love to 🌟 stay..❤️❤️😍

Old Country Stores I loveum. We have several here in West Virginia one just out of Petersburg. Another in Calhoun County at Chole. Bought my first pack of BBs there at age 7. I am now 75 years old.

Amazing to see a story on stinking Creek, some of our dearest friends live on stinking Creek and have lived there all their lives. Bet they've been to this little store. Thanks.