HOLLOW SQUARE PRESS
  • HOME
  • BLOG
  • BOOKS
    • TOM'S BOOKS >
      • BAKER'S DAUGHTER, MILLER'S SON
      • BOY AT SEA
      • THE CURSE OF VILMA VALENTINE
      • A FEVER OF THE MAD
      • GHOST GUITARS
      • SOME TRICKS OF DESPERATION
      • TOM'S SONGBOOK
    • JONATHAN'S BOOKS >
      • A HOWLING IN THE NIGHT
      • SIREN SONG
  • FILMS
    • THE EARLY YEARS: 1970 - 1975 >
      • ALEX IN WONDERLAND, 1970
      • RYAN'S DAUGHTER, 1970
      • SHAFT, 1971
      • THE GANG THAT COULDN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT, 1971
      • THE WRATH OF GOD, 1972
      • THE EFFECT OF GAMMA RAYS ON MAN-IN-THE-MOON MARIGOLDS, 1972
      • THE LAST AMERICAN HERO, 1973
      • THE HAPPY HOOKER, 1975
    • THE MIDDLE YEARS: 1976 - 1981 >
      • GODZILLA VS. MEGALON, 1976
      • BOARDWALK, 1979
      • BLOW OUT, 1981
      • THE CHOSEN 1981
      • SO FINE, 1981
      • TATTOO, 1981
    • THE FINAL YEARS, 1982 - 1987 >
      • EASY MONEY, 1983
      • HARRY AND SON, 1983
      • THE LAST DRAGON, 1985
  • SONGS
    • AN ASSORTMENT OF LYRICS
    • THE DARWIN THEORY
    • THE STONEWALLYA KID
    • A STRING OF BANJOS
    • BOOZE
  • PLACES
    • OLD SAWYERVILLE
    • GHOSTS OF SAWYERVILLE
    • HOLLOW SQUARE CEMETERY
    • PIE LAB
  • SEASONS
    • SPRING >
      • 1. Bulbs, Redbud, & Crabapple
      • 2. Azalea, Iris, & Dogwood
      • 3. Magnolia & Dootsie
    • SUMMER >
      • A GATHERING OF OLD MEN, 1987
      • 1. Black-Eyed Susans, Day Lilies, & Four O'clocks
      • 2. Crepe Myrtle
      • 3. Tiger Lilies, Althea, & Naked Ladies
      • 4. AUGUST/SEPTEMBER
    • AUTUMN >
      • 1. FALL: THE EARLY SIGNS
      • 2. OCTOBER
      • 3. FALL: THE REST OF THE SEASON
    • WINTER >
      • 1. WINTER'S ON THE WAY!
      • 2. THE PROGRESS OF WINTER

MARTIN'S STORE, SAWYERVILLE, ALABAMA

10/27/2018

5 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
I have learned that Martin's Store, which has been the centerpiece of Downtown Sawyerville, is to be demolished to make parking space for a new business that is to be opened. I will be sorry to see it go, but I suspect that it has declined to the point that it could not be salvaged.
It was built by Melton True Martin soon after the main highway, which used to run by the railroad tracks to the rear, was moved a block to the south, where it is now. My best guess is that the move  took place in the late 1920s. Before that move, the main road crossed the railroad 7 times between Greensboro and Sawyerville. After the move, the only time it crossed the railroad was a couple of miles west of Greensboro where what we always called the Overhead Bridge passed well above the tracks.

Before then, stores tended to front on the old main road and the railroad. Mr. M.T.’s original wooden store faced the old road and the depot. And after he built the new brick building facing the new road the old structure, which abutted the new one and was accessible through a heavy iron sliding door, was used for storage.
Picture
Right, Mr. M.T.'s brick store. Left., Murray Martin's original store. In between was where Callahan's Filling Station stood. Photo: 1972. dusk.

Mr. M.T. ran the store for many years, until age and infirmity intervened.  Murray Martin, Uncle Murray, married to my mother's middle sister, had clerked for M.T. when he was a young man, and later he purchased the store from his mentor and kinsman.
 Across the road to the left of the store was Emmet Callahan's filling station, and to the left of that, beyond a wide passageway where the little kids of the 1940s and 1950s liked to play, was Uncle Murray's original store, on the west side of which had been constructed an apartment where he and his family lived. Those structures are gone now.
When the store was built, it was one of the largest stores for a good ten miles in any direction, and there are tales of country people viewing it with great amazement. There was a large porch in front supported by tall brick pillars (you can still see the outline where the porch roof attached to the building). Some years ago the owner at the time had the porch taken down because it had become a hangout for the idle. I missed the porch, but I didn't miss the idle.
Picture
 But what I do miss is the brick on the column on the right that had been scraped down over the years by men sharpening their knives there. I wish I had thought to save that at the time.



The double front doors were set back, and on each side were large showcase windows, glass-paned on the front and on the inside, covered with tin now.

Picture
Picture
 

Scrubby trees and vines have grown up around the store. This picture was taken on the east side from where stood the Johnny Pickens establishment, a combination honky-tonk, butcher shop, barber shop, and general all-round entertainment center for the black citizens of the area. Behind the Pickens place was the ice house, also run by Johnny Pickens. Later on Pickens closed his business,and
some years after that it functioned briefly as a church for a small gathering of four people who would drive down from Tuscaloosa to worship. It sagged more and more over time, and early in the morning on September 13, 1979, it finally collapsed during Hurricane Frederic. But the old brick store continued to stand. to edit.
Picture
Picture



Vines grow up on the west side of the building as well, and in the spring and summer much of the front of the building is covered with Virginia creeper and honeysuckle

Picture
The roof has now given way. Possibly its collapse is related to the lack of much in the way of interior support for the roof, or perhaps it is simply time and weather taking their toll.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Below you can see the heavy metal double doors that barred the way to the old building, which was used for storage after the brick store opened. Those metal doors disappeared a couple of years ago.
Picture
Picture
That old building has been there all of my life and derelict for much of it. I will miss it when it is gone.
Picture
Picture
5 Comments
Johnny Dore link
12/21/2023 07:58:29 am

Nice piece of article. where i come from domesticating some of the wild animals like hyena for example will automatically qualify community to disown you as a witch. Its a myth

Reply
Troy Leonard link
12/21/2023 07:59:23 am

This is very valueable thing shared, I just wanna thanks t=for letting us know about this wanderfull information, thankyou

Reply
Robert Goodman link
12/21/2023 08:30:53 am

The roof has now given way. Possibly its collapse is related to the lack of much in the way of interior support for the roof, or perhaps it is simply time and weather taking their toll. I’m so thankful for your helpful post!

Reply
Luther Miller link
5/1/2024 09:32:35 am

The old road and the depot. And after he built the new brick building facing the new road the old structure, which abutted the new one and was accessible through a heavy iron sliding door, Thank you, amazing post!

Reply
Lesbian Bars Peterborough link
5/10/2024 02:46:16 pm

Great post, thanks for writing

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    August 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    December 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    June 2021
    January 2021
    September 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    February 2018
    August 2017
    July 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    April 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013

    Categories

    All
    Books
    Eating
    Flowers
    Movies
    Pie Lab
    Stanley Kubrick
    Terence Davies
    Terrence Malick
    Weather

    RSS Feed

    Picture

    contact form

Submit