The Simmons & amp; The Wright Company is a historic general store that was founded in 1884 in Kewanee, Mississippi, a small town outside Meridian in the Lauderdale area. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
Video The Simmons & Wright Company
Histori
The store was originally built in 1884 by William Simmons and Tom Wright before what is now known as the US Highway 11/80 built. What is now the back of the store then faces the Old Dixie Highway, which runs west through Meridian and east to Key West, Florida. The site is most likely chosen because of its proximity to the railroad tracks, so trains can stop and unload for local farmers.
Although the store is still operating today, the period in which business flourished began with its founding in 1884 and lasted until the 1960s. The company relies heavily on the cotton industry and many farmers need supplies in the area. In the 1880s, the store included blacksmith stores, grain and wheat mills, cotton gin and sawmills and carrying everyday items such as groceries, clothing, and other necessities. During the Great Depression, customers who built tabs in stores were allowed to pay for it with cotton. The owners will buy cotton from them. If the cotton is not enough to pay the tab of the customer as a whole, the owner will allow the tab to roll over to the next year.
The fire destroyed the original store building in 1926, but was rebuilt in the same year using brick and not wood, where the original store was built. The building is currently two floors with a terrace on the front (south). A wooden tent covered the porch and was delayed by a cable attached to the front of the building. The roof is flat, bounded by a dividing wall, which is covered with a concrete belt that culminates in the middle. The inside contains many wooden shelves and glass boxes where merchandise is displayed and stored. The second floor contains a wrapper around the balcony, which is accessed via a staircase at the rear of the building. The whole store is open except the office space behind the first floor and the closet on the second floor. There is a wood burning stove on the first floor for heating during the winter, and although there is no air conditioning in the building, there are fans all over the building for use during the summer.
Behind the store is a warehouse built in 1926. Built on a pile of bricks and made of wood and aluminum. There is a brick cage on the south side of the building that is used to store ice for shops. Also on site are gin cotton, blacksmith shop, and some storage storage of seeds mostly made of wood and tin. These buildings are mainly used in cotton production. There are also older, worse buildings on site, including old cotton gins, warehouses, gristmills, and sawmills.
Maps The Simmons & Wright Company
Company today
In the early 1950s, C.H. Ryan bought a 52% stake in the store; the rest forwarded to Rowena, Bo, and Jean Simmons through the will of William Simmons, one of the original owners of the company. Bernice Simmons owned the company from the mid-1970s until his death in 1998. Since then, the store is owned by Gary and Janice Pickett. The gasoline fuel tank was added to the front of the store at some point but was removed in the 1980s.
Currently, the store is still operating and selling antiques, hardware, seeds and feed for animals, and small farm equipment. The store also continues to sell groceries as may be found in department stores as well as the famous hoop cheese shop.
In 2009, filmmakers worked on Robert Downey, Jr., Due Date , recorded Simmons & amp; Wright store that can be used in movies.
References
External links
- Official Website of Simmons and Wright Company
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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