Post by Hoosier Hillbilly on Nov 14, 2015 16:59:45 GMT -5
The General Store and High School Now Just a Memory in Community
Written by Debbie Dennie, Editor of the Falmouth Outlook
Transcribed by Nancy Bray with the permission of Debbie Dennie.
Thanks Debbie & Nancy!
The following article was taken from the Falmouth Outlook - January 23, 2001
As I drove the highway to the quiet little community of Morgan last Wednesday, to look at the old Morgan High School paper that Charlie Butler had, my mind started to drift back in time.
For you see, I as well as Mr. Butler attended Morgan Elementary School. After talking with Mr. Butler I drove down past the old store building that once was a vital part of the community. I stood there staring at the rundown building visioning it as it was in 1958 when I was a customer there. The sign on the roof boldly displayed the name of R. H. Ewing & Son Store. There were two gas pumps in front of the store building. It was a busy place with residents going and coming in and out its doors. First one car and then a truck would pull up to the gas pumps to get gas and it continued all day.
Residents ran into the general store to pick up lunch meat, milk, some of "Uncle Charlie's Meat," a brand name I remember, or many other items to take home.
Often times there were tractors and wagons pulled up in the big old store gravel lot. Farmers would stop by to chat a spell and drink a cool refreshing soda pop and get some gas. Back then fifty cents or a dollars worth of gas would take you a far piece!
Ladies would stop and chat with other neighbors in the community catching up on what was going on and how they were doing.
Inside, I remember the cold concrete floor in the front part of the store, which had apparently been added on later. The remainder of the floor was wood. In a corner in the front was a stove, and it seems I remember old school bus seats were used for people to sit on.
Those seats were many times occupied by local residents having some time on their hands to sit and chat awhile with who ever came in.
I remember as a kid walking up and down each aisle of the store looking at all the different cans of food items.
There was also the school supply area where one could find writing paper, pencils, crayons, scissors, paste and other items.
One of my favorite places in the store as a child, was the glass enclosed cabinet next to the old wooden checkout counter. For in the cabinet it seemed at the time was a million different kinds of loose candy. I'm sure there weren't that many, but it sure did seem like an awful lot at the time!
Back then we didn't get to go to the store very often so when you did go you remembered it. I can remember looking up at Mr. Ewing or sometimes his wife, Mrs. Ewing, with my nose pressed against the glass and pointing to the piece of candy that I wanted.
Of course the store had lots of other things like piece goods, shoes, overboots and other items residents might need.
One of the other things I remember about the store was the old huckster truck that Mr. Ewing use to run.
Now for those of you that are too young to know what I'm talking about you can't imagine the excitement back then when we would hear that old truck coming up the road.
My brother and I, and sometimes my little sister would run for the edge of the road, yelling back for out grandmother to hurry.
The old huckster truck carrying many items from the store would pull up and stop and open its doors for us to come inside.
I swear I think we just about ran over each other to get up the steps and head for the candy. Sometimes we would get candy and other times there wasn't any extra money to get it. We'd look to see what we could get the next time the truck came rolling up the road.
As we climbed up the steps of the huckster there sat the man that drove it for Mr. Ewing; Ollie Porter. He would be smiling and would jump up to help my grandmother get what grocery items she needed.
Isn't it funny how vivid those things are in our mind after so many years?
I never once thought that I would be standing outside that old store building 40 years later remembering how it use to be.
Back then it was sometimes hard to get through on the road with all the cars and trucks parked at the store.
Today, the lot is empty, the gas pumps are gone, the store sign gone, no one or anything left inside, just my childhood memories.
Those memories include family members, good friends and so many of the residents that went in and out of the store that are no longer living today. But in my memory I can remember them vividly.
After I took the photo at the store, I drove down to the lot where the old Morgan High School and Elementary School still stand with windows broken out, weeds grown up. The buildings looked so lonesome there. For there was always plenty of activity at both buildings when school was in session there.
One of the things that comes to my mind first about the school was I remember as a student in the second or third grade there, that we were warned by our teachers that we were not allowed to go over and inside the high school building.
Now imagine telling that to 8, 9, or ten year old girls who could see the handsome high school boys standing on the front steps talking and acting so cool with their greased up hair and their leather jackets.
As you can guess we sneaked over there and would peek around the corner to get a look at the boys anyway!
Those buildings seemed so huge back then. Today they look much smaller.
As I stood there taking the photos I could almost hear the screaming and cheering coming from the gym. There was many a ballgame played there and the parents, students, and teachers crowded in and sat on the old wooden bleachers.
There was also many fall festivals attended in that old gym. That was a time when we would get out of class to help turn the crank on the ice cream freezers. So many other fond memories shared there with our eight grade graduation exercises, assemblies, and class plays.
At some point when Pendleton High School was built in 1962 the high school was consolidated with the other high schools in the county in the new high school building.
Then the elementary grades were moved from the old building at Morgan into the old high school building. It was in that building that I finished the eighth grade and graduated on to the new high school at the time.
When the grade schools in the county were consolidated and all went to Southern or Northern Elementary, the slow death of the old school buildings and the old store started.
For you see, it was the school in the little community that kept it alive. After the school moved out, the store kept operating for awhile and eventually it was not needed any more.
Written by Debbie Dennie, Editor of the Falmouth Outlook
Transcribed by Nancy Bray with the permission of Debbie Dennie.
Thanks Debbie & Nancy!
The following article was taken from the Falmouth Outlook - January 23, 2001
As I drove the highway to the quiet little community of Morgan last Wednesday, to look at the old Morgan High School paper that Charlie Butler had, my mind started to drift back in time.
For you see, I as well as Mr. Butler attended Morgan Elementary School. After talking with Mr. Butler I drove down past the old store building that once was a vital part of the community. I stood there staring at the rundown building visioning it as it was in 1958 when I was a customer there. The sign on the roof boldly displayed the name of R. H. Ewing & Son Store. There were two gas pumps in front of the store building. It was a busy place with residents going and coming in and out its doors. First one car and then a truck would pull up to the gas pumps to get gas and it continued all day.
Residents ran into the general store to pick up lunch meat, milk, some of "Uncle Charlie's Meat," a brand name I remember, or many other items to take home.
Often times there were tractors and wagons pulled up in the big old store gravel lot. Farmers would stop by to chat a spell and drink a cool refreshing soda pop and get some gas. Back then fifty cents or a dollars worth of gas would take you a far piece!
Ladies would stop and chat with other neighbors in the community catching up on what was going on and how they were doing.
Inside, I remember the cold concrete floor in the front part of the store, which had apparently been added on later. The remainder of the floor was wood. In a corner in the front was a stove, and it seems I remember old school bus seats were used for people to sit on.
Those seats were many times occupied by local residents having some time on their hands to sit and chat awhile with who ever came in.
I remember as a kid walking up and down each aisle of the store looking at all the different cans of food items.
There was also the school supply area where one could find writing paper, pencils, crayons, scissors, paste and other items.
One of my favorite places in the store as a child, was the glass enclosed cabinet next to the old wooden checkout counter. For in the cabinet it seemed at the time was a million different kinds of loose candy. I'm sure there weren't that many, but it sure did seem like an awful lot at the time!
Back then we didn't get to go to the store very often so when you did go you remembered it. I can remember looking up at Mr. Ewing or sometimes his wife, Mrs. Ewing, with my nose pressed against the glass and pointing to the piece of candy that I wanted.
Of course the store had lots of other things like piece goods, shoes, overboots and other items residents might need.
One of the other things I remember about the store was the old huckster truck that Mr. Ewing use to run.
Now for those of you that are too young to know what I'm talking about you can't imagine the excitement back then when we would hear that old truck coming up the road.
My brother and I, and sometimes my little sister would run for the edge of the road, yelling back for out grandmother to hurry.
The old huckster truck carrying many items from the store would pull up and stop and open its doors for us to come inside.
I swear I think we just about ran over each other to get up the steps and head for the candy. Sometimes we would get candy and other times there wasn't any extra money to get it. We'd look to see what we could get the next time the truck came rolling up the road.
As we climbed up the steps of the huckster there sat the man that drove it for Mr. Ewing; Ollie Porter. He would be smiling and would jump up to help my grandmother get what grocery items she needed.
Isn't it funny how vivid those things are in our mind after so many years?
I never once thought that I would be standing outside that old store building 40 years later remembering how it use to be.
Back then it was sometimes hard to get through on the road with all the cars and trucks parked at the store.
Today, the lot is empty, the gas pumps are gone, the store sign gone, no one or anything left inside, just my childhood memories.
Those memories include family members, good friends and so many of the residents that went in and out of the store that are no longer living today. But in my memory I can remember them vividly.
After I took the photo at the store, I drove down to the lot where the old Morgan High School and Elementary School still stand with windows broken out, weeds grown up. The buildings looked so lonesome there. For there was always plenty of activity at both buildings when school was in session there.
One of the things that comes to my mind first about the school was I remember as a student in the second or third grade there, that we were warned by our teachers that we were not allowed to go over and inside the high school building.
Now imagine telling that to 8, 9, or ten year old girls who could see the handsome high school boys standing on the front steps talking and acting so cool with their greased up hair and their leather jackets.
As you can guess we sneaked over there and would peek around the corner to get a look at the boys anyway!
Those buildings seemed so huge back then. Today they look much smaller.
As I stood there taking the photos I could almost hear the screaming and cheering coming from the gym. There was many a ballgame played there and the parents, students, and teachers crowded in and sat on the old wooden bleachers.
There was also many fall festivals attended in that old gym. That was a time when we would get out of class to help turn the crank on the ice cream freezers. So many other fond memories shared there with our eight grade graduation exercises, assemblies, and class plays.
At some point when Pendleton High School was built in 1962 the high school was consolidated with the other high schools in the county in the new high school building.
Then the elementary grades were moved from the old building at Morgan into the old high school building. It was in that building that I finished the eighth grade and graduated on to the new high school at the time.
When the grade schools in the county were consolidated and all went to Southern or Northern Elementary, the slow death of the old school buildings and the old store started.
For you see, it was the school in the little community that kept it alive. After the school moved out, the store kept operating for awhile and eventually it was not needed any more.
