Old Country Stores

Lawrence County’s Old Country Stores

Baker Store in Deering Ohio

Someone requested a picture of Baker’s Store At Deering. Knew Lawrence Baker well. Best general Store in the County!

Photo Courtesy of Gary Bazell on the Lawrence Register Facebook Group.

The ‘country store’ did not begin with the area’s settlement because most settlers provided everything they needed to survive. After a few years, pack peddlers roam through the woods packing needles, thread, pans, and many items the pioneers wanted. Next, the communities built a mill to grind their grains, and a store appeared in the tiny settlement. As the communities grew, so did the stores and the merchandise they offered.

Lawrence County, Ohio, was settled from East to West going downriver. Most of the early settlements were also river landings for the many riverboats and rafts. The earliest storekeepers crossed the Ohio River from the early Virginia settlement, Guyandotte, located at the mouth of the Guyandotte River. The uncontrolled Ohio River averaged about four feet deep and could be crossed in many locations.

Quaker families may have made the earliest Ohio settlement from North Carolina, which arrived about 1797 after the Treaty of Greenville was signed. Their settlement was called Quakers Bottom, located opposite Guyandotte, VA. About one mile East of Indian Guyan Creek, the area later called itself Proctorville.

Lawrence County, Ohio, regions had been known by Long Hunters many years before pioneers settled the area. Any map will show that most streams have hunter’s reference names. An article in a Richmond newspaper in 1800 stated that 5,000 bear skins had been shipped from the area that year.

Our area was also an Indian highway. Indians from the North converged on the Ohio River at its ‘Great Western Bend.’ They crossed to the south side of the river, then followed the Big Sandy River or the Guyandotte River, which flowed from many points in Virginia and North Carolina.

CAN YOU HELP?
DID YOU SHOP AT A COUNTRY STORE IN LAWRENCE COUNTY, OHIO?

We are listing the old country stores in Lawrence Co., Ohio. Most have disappeared, so we are trying to save their names and locations for additions or corrections. They will be added to the listing, along with your name.

We would appreciate any information to help complete this project. Photos would be wonderful, and all listings and/or photos will be credited to the person submitting them.

There are five ways to contact us:

Use our comment section below this article
email the Lawrence Register
email Carrie Eldridge
call Carrie at 740-867-8090 for more information
Post in our Facebook Group

Name	Location	Date	Owner	Source
	Junction of OH 243 and old OH 7 Downriver to Chesapeake			Carrie Eldridge
Bradrick #1 Otho Suiter Union Twp.	Foot of Bradrick Hill junction of OH 243 and old OH 7	1940-1970	Otho Suiter
Hilda Legg Union Twp.	Coryville old OH 7	1940-1960	Hilda Legg	Carrie Eldrige and Jack Fry
Bob Comstock Union Twp	Old OH 7 Near Ferry Landing	1940-1960	Bob Comstock	Carrie Eldridge Jack Fry 1947 CHS Annual
Plyes Union Twp.	½ mile east of old SOHIO bulk plant on old OH 7	1940-1965?		Carrie Eldridge Jack Fry
Bradrick to Getaway Union Twp.
Terry Lunch & Grocery Union Twp	Unlocated			1947 Chesapeake Annual
Bradrick #2 Smoot Union Twp.	on OH 243 top of Bradrick Hill	? – 2010		Carrie Eldridge
Stevens Union Twp	2 miles west of Bradrick on OH 243 Junction Booth-Eaton Road	1950-1980	Clyde Stevens	Carrie Eldridge
Thacker’s Union Twp.	3 miles west of Bradrick on OH 243	1950-1990	Rufus and Mildred Ferris Thacker	Carrie Eldridge Shelia Black Ellis
Humphrey’s Union Twp.	6 miles out OH 243 At Getaway (3^rd) First – Unionville 2^nd – Russell’s Place	1950-2000	Ervin Humphrey	Carrie Eldridge
Waldeck’s James F. 1890-1910 Wade H. 1920-50 Elizabeth ‘50-2000 Union Twp.	6 miles out OH 243 at Getaway (3^rd) First – Unionville 2^nd -Russell’s Place [I lived in Getaway in 1973-4 and shopped mostly at Waldeck’s (Elizabeth) and sometimes Humphreys. Waldeck’s still has hitching posts for horses and a wood stove with a bunch of chairs for talking. I lived across the street in the cabin that overlooked Symmes Creek.-Charlie Berry]	1900-200 It probably began in 1850 – 1860	Francis Russell Waldeck Father-in-law	Carrie Eldridge Law. Co. records Charlie Berry
Schneider’s Getaway Union Twp.	Getaway back of Symmes Creek at mill across from Waldeck’s	1890-1930	J.E. Schneider	Sharon S. Lang
John Eaton Union Twp.	Eaton Road 1 mile north Chesapeake [off Big Branch Rd- a log cabin house. The store was there when I was nine at the time-Sally]	1940-1970	John Eaton	Jack Fry Sally Lou Roach
Company store at Blackfork, Washington township.				Kay Ruth
Sites Union Twp	South side of OH 7 Near Edgerton Hill Road	1940-1955	Toddy Sites	Jack Fry Bill Thacker
Pitman’s Union Twp.	Southside OH 7 Near old school	1940-1955	Brian Pitman	Jack Fry Bill Thacker
J.R. Frampton Union Twp.	See Ben St. below On hill opposite 10^th Street Ferry in Huntington	1900-1940 Or earlier Rockwood	J.R. Frampton	Ironton Register
Harmon’s Union Twp.	Southside OH 7 On the hill where OH 7 was moved Ben Street	1940-1960	Beau Harmon	Jack Fry
F. Gillen Union Twp.	Right side (north) of bridge	1940-1955	Frank Gillen Groceries	Jack Fry
Hutchinson’s Union Twp.	Right side bridge Now US 53 intersection	1940-1955	John Hutchinson	Jack Fry
Hutchinson’s	End of 6^th Bridge west side	1920-1940	John & O.D. Hutchinson	Jack Fry
Nicely’s Union Twp.	End of the 6th Street Bridge	1940-1970	Cotton Nicely	Sharon S. Lang
J.T. Gillen Union Twp.	The left side of the bridge N-Foot – 6th St. Bridge. Food, hardware, and appliances	1930-1940	John T. Gillen and his wife, Clara Easton	Jack Fry Ads Sharon S. Lang
Dowling’s Union Twp.	3rd Ave., south corner of 4th Street	1940-1960	Mary Dowling	Jack & Jean Fry Sharon S. Lang
Huron’s Union Twp.	Rockwood N side of Ohio 7, near the church and barber shop	1930-1960	Alden Huron	1949 CHS annual
J.F. Lewis Union Twp.	Unlocated		John F. Lewis	1949 CHS annual
Johnson’s Union Twp.	Unlocated			1947 CHS annual
Black Cat Grocery Union Twp.	Unlocated		Mrs. R.H. Russell	1947 annual
Carr’s	N side old US 52, across from Dr. Baker’s home	1940-1970	Car, then Donnie Brown	Jack Fry
Suiter’s Union Twp.	see Bradrick	1940-	Otho Suiter	1947 CHS Annual
Smoot’s Union Twp.	see Bradrick top Bradrick Hill on OH 243	1940-		1947 CHS Annual Jack Fry
Bill Hutchinson’s Union Twp.	Unlocated – a small on 3rd ave			1947 CHS annual
Big Branch Road #31 to Rankins Creek Union Twp.
Jae Macri’s Union Twp.	Big Branch 1 mile north of Chesapeake	1970-2010	Joe & Jeannie Macri	Carrie Eldridge Michele Casteel Layne
Big Branch #1 Mooney’s Union Twp	Junction Big Branch and Davidson Hill 2 miles north, then south corner	1970-2000	Charley Mooney	Jack Fry
Big Branch #2 Freeman’s Gallaher’s Union Twp	Junction Big Branch and Davidson Hill on the other side of the road on the north corner	1950-?	1st Freeman’s 2nd Harvey & Laura Gallagher	Jack Fry
Windsor Twp.
Greasy Ridge? Head of Coffee Ck to Pleasant Valley Church Windsor Twp.
B. Brammer’s Windsor Twp.	On Greasy Ridge left side (west) at the head of Coffee Creek.		Bernard Brammer	Jack Fry Bill Thacker Sheila Black Ellis
Pearl Dunfee’s Windsor Twp.	On Greasy Ridge North Right side 83? Henson Hollow		Pearl Dunfee	Jack Fry Bill Thacker
Melvin Adkin’s Windsor Twp.	Before Dobbston on left		Melvin Adkins	Jack Fry
Leo Dunfee’s Windsor Twp	Dobbstown at Junction of Greasy Ridge and OH 217 [Leon’s family shopped at the Dunfee store on top of 217 where Greasy Ridge connects.-Sandra Holderby]		Leo Dunfee	Jack Fry Carrie Eldridge Sandra Holderby Carl Murdock
Greasy Road Callicoat Windsor Twp.	1st crossing 775 and Greasy Ridge. Finally burned about 1975	before 1950		Carrie Eldridge Jack Fry
Rappsburg Mason Twp.	Greasy Ridge at Rappsburg Road CR 63	Before 1950		Carrie Eldridge
R & R Roach Mason Twp.	On Greasy Ridge, near Long Creek		Roach	Carrie Eldridge
White’s Mason Twp.	2nd crossing of 775 and Greasy Ridge at Mt. Pleasant Church	1950-1970	White	Carrie Eldridge
775 north out of Proctorville
775 at Bartramsville	3/12 mile North of Proctorville	1950-2000		Carrie Eldridge
775 Junction with 217	Scottown on 775	1950-?		Carrie Eldridge
Holschuh #2 Windsor Twp.	Scottown on 217	1950-2010	Glen Holschuh	Carrie Eldridge Ironton Register
Old Holschuh #1 Windsor Twp.	378 at Willow Wood	1890-1950?	Wm. D. & Mary Holschuh Merril (son) 1940’s with Brammer’s Mill	Carrie Eldridge Ironton Register
Wilgus Windsor Twp.	NE corner of Junction of 775 and 141 root cellar	1950-1970		Carrie Eldridge
Wilgus Windsor Twp.	on 775 at old school	1975?		Carrie Eldridge
Dickess Market Aid Twp.	141 at Aid	1970-2022		Carrie Eldridge Michele Casteel Layne
Arabia Aid Twp.	on 141	1960?	Several	Carrie Eldridge
Miller Symmes Twp.	on 141 in Waterloo with a restaurant	1950-1980	Bill Miller	Carrie Eldridge
Ingalls Symmes Twp.	on 141 before Waterloo with service station	1950-1990	Ingalls	Carrie Eldridge Marty Miller Pack Jack Wiseman
Henderson Meat Market Symmes Twp.	Waterloo on 141 burned in the mid-1970s	1960-1970s		Carrie Eldridge
Homer Stevens	CR 65 at Slate Run		Homer Stevens	Carl Murdock
Pizza Shop Symmes Twp.	Back street of 141 at Waterloo	1960-1970s		Carrie Eldridge
Sherritt’s Symmes Twp.	Etna Waterloo Rd junction with Tick Ridge	Burned in 1924	Mrs. T.J. White and her daughter Bertha	Portsmouth Daily Times
Freeman’s Fayette Twp./Perry Twp. line	Top of the hill on OH 243 junction CR 17 – near Sunrise Church	1950-1970	Freeman	Carrie Eldridge
Baker’s Perry Twp.	OH 243 junction with Bald Knob Rd – CR6	1920-1970	Baker	Sharon D. Lang (relative)
Bazell’s Perry Twp.	Rock Camp Bald Knob Rd CR6 near Old Jackson Rd.	1900-1940	Hamil & Lucetta Bazell	1910 Law. Co. Hist. page
Andis Grocery Lawrence Twp.	OH 217 across the road from the old school	1940-1980		Sharon S. Lang
Hecla Grocery Upper Twp.	OH 141 junction with Hog Run	1940-1980		Carrie Eldridge

My great-grandpa Herbert Allen had a country store	on ice creek close to rocky top speedway		Herbert Allen	Susie Catalina Gilpin
McKee’s Fayette Twp.	On Solida Rd.		McKee’s	Dave Milem


Dillon’s	Route 775			Carl Murdock
Clovis Berry had a small store at Linville.	Linville		Clovis Berry	Carl Murdock

Baker’s Store	Deering		Lawrence Baker	Gary Bazell
Miller’s	out 775 from Proctorville			Carl Murdock
Another Dunfee at Dobbston.	Dobbston			Carl Murdock
Brammer Grocery & Feed Store	Brammer Grocery & Feed Store was located in Rock Camp. This store also served as the Rock Camp Post Office. At that time, the post office was a few hundred feet away from the original. This building was also an old country store by Willard & Blanche Clay.	I don’t know when it closed, but Daisy Brammer, their daughter-in-law, still lives in the area & served as Postmaster after the store closed.	Clark C. Brammer & his wife, Catherine, were the proprietors.	Carmin Kay Shannon
Cooper’s & Campbell’s	Big Cannons Creek Rd			Diana Lynn Aldridge Fetty
Homer White’s	Pedro		Homer White	Diana Lynn Aldridge Fetty

Bakers store	SR 243			Larry Martin
Stanley’s store	Pike Street, Coal Grove			Larry Martin
Hub Allen’s store We would walk the road, the creek, or ride bicycles. He always had fireworks for sale around the 4th of July, and I bought many packs of Black Cat firecrackers from Hub.	It was on Sugar Creek-Johnstown Rd (Co. Rd. 52), about halfway between the mouth of Turkey Fork Rd and the church at Johnstown. I can give you the GPS coordinates if it would be helpful.		Hub Allen	Cris Chaney
Lawson’s Grocery	off SR 93			Teresa Payton
Whites grocery store	Pedro			Teresa Payton
Dilley’s	Andis			Amy Mart
Ed Campbell’s store	Up Woltz Hollow on Cannons Creek.			Cheryl Dalton
Cooper’s store	at the mouth of Woltz Hollow on Cannons Creek		Wes Cooper	Cheryl Dalton
White’s	Pedro			Cheryl Dalton
Woolums grocery	on John’s creek			Brenda Biars
Humphrey’s	at Getaway			Larry Casteel
Giles	There was a store just past Humphery’s, but I can’t remember the name of it.			Shelia Black Ellis
Waldeck	at the end of Booth Eaton rd at 243 end		She married Edgar Bowen, a bus driver for Chesapeake	Shelia Black Ellis Larry Casteel
Miller’s	On 775, I shopped there			Sandy Delawder
Unknown	As a child, I remember seeing one at Platform, across from the water pump below the hill where the old Guyan Valley Baptist Church was.	It was closed then, but my dad said it was a store when he was growing up.	I don’t remember who owned it or the name of it.	Becky Bame Wilkinson
George Dilley	Andis		George Dilley	Sue Coffman
Jay Webb’s			Jay Webb	Sue Coffman
Albert Cooley’s store	had a store on Lick Creek Road.		Albert Cooley. His wife was my 1st cousin, once removed, Stella Wineka Cooley.	Denise Gibson Sturgill
Wilson’s	It was right next to Mt. Pleasant church.			Kay Stumbo Larson
Does anyone remember Clifford Lynd’s grocery store?			Clifford Lynd. It was where my Mom shopped. And they would deliver our groceries to our house.	Genny Mulkey
Paynes	At the mouth of paddle creek road and oak creek road.	A favorite of mine in the ’50s and ’60s.		Sandy Jenkins Foster
My parents shop at Dillons	in Forest Dale just outside of Coal Grove			Sandy Jenkins Foster
Unknown	There was another one in Wilgus, but not sure what the name was. We used to ride our bikes there and back.			Michele Casteel Layne
Chatfield’s	South Point			Ed Wooten
Loppers	on Etna – Waterloo Road near the church just down from Wolf Hollow Road and Coopers Market.			John Dillon’s mother, Virginia (Bernice) Saunders Dillon
Clark Brammer’s	Rock Camp		Clark Brammer’s	Lorraine Dillon Augerbright
Hubert Thompson	Linville		Hubert Thompson	Lorraine Dillon Augerbrigh
Willard Clay’s	Rock Camp		Willard Clay	Lorraine Dillon Augerbright
Wilgus Store was started in the 1800’s by John Calvin Russell who carved out the rock cellar behind it. It had several owners/operators after that, including a Wiseman, a Payne, and my great aunt and uncle Cos & Oakley Payton during World War II. They later had Payton Place general store on Route 93 below Decatur.	Wilgus	1800s	John Calvin Russell –Wiseman —Payne Cos & Oakley Payton	Robert N. Wiseman
Payton Place General Store	Route 93 below Decatur			Robert N. Wiseman
Store	Superior			Dale Henry Caldwell
Store	Pedro			Dale Henry Caldwell
Harley Anthony’s store in Hanging Rock. The new highway got it in the late 50s early 60s. My grandfather took me there for candy!	Hanging Rock	from ? – 1950s or 1960s	Harley Anthony	Tim Gearhart
Roy Jenkins in Hecla, my morning hangout before school.	Hecla		Roy Jenkins	Lonnie Vanmeter
Nance’s (I think that was the name)	Kitts Hill			Dottie Jenkins Stewart
Kitts’ (it was connected to the post office.)	Kitts Hill			Dottie Jenkins Stewart
Store was right in the intersection in Wilgus.			Dale & Dorothy Jones, parents of Mary Beth Jones	Debra McCarty Short
White’s grocery store	Pedro		I would walk DT&I RR tracks from Lawco Lake in the 50’s to buy stuff. Remember boys Dick and Rusty White.	Mike Haney

4 Comments

Martha J. Martin on March 16, 2023 at 10:14 am

John,

Please let your mother know that we appreciate her memories, and I have added it to our list.

Martha
John Dillon on March 15, 2023 at 7:06 pm

My mother, Virginia (Bernice) Saunders Dillon, said she remembers a store named Loppers on Etna – Waterloo Road near the church just down from Wolf Hollow Road and Coopers Market.
Martha J. Martin on March 12, 2023 at 2:27 pm

Thank you, Carmin,
I will put your comment on the list.
Martha
Carmin Kay Shannon on March 11, 2023 at 9:56 pm

Brammer Grocery & Feed Store was located in Rock Camp. Clark C. Brammer & his wife, Catherine, were the proprietors. This store also served as the Rock Camp Post Office. I don’t know when it closed, but Daisy Brammer, their daughter in law still lives in the area & served as Postmaster after the store closed. At that time, the post office was located a few hundred feet away from the original post office. This building had also been an old country store run by Willard & Blanche Clay.