"The Art of Historic Preservation"

9th Annual Preservation Week 2007 Photo-Essay Competition

Third Place: Haleigh Mack, 3rd Grade, Tollesboro Elementary, Tollesboro

Title:  All about Himes General Store

I am researching about Himes General Store in Telleseboro, KY.,on route 10.  I have taken a picture of what it looks like now.  The owners of the store are Jeff and Suzanne Hines.  They have told me a lot about the store.  Here are some fast facts about the store.  One thing the owner Suzanne told me about the store is that James M. Toncray built the store in 1892 and that there is a second floor in the store that used to be used a long time ago.  They used the second floor for buggy showroom, millinery shop, and archery gallery.  Today Hime’s General Store sells all kinds of supplies including truck supplies, guns, film, lottery, boots, and grocery items.  Jeff also used to sell satellites from this store in the ground floor.  The second floor is now used as storage for Jeff and Suzanne store. Sometimes when Jeff the owner was a deputy people used to come in with their problems and fights.  Researching this building I was told that there was once an elevator that went from the basement to the second floor.  Today there is still a hole in the upstairs floor of where it used to be.  This was used to fill bags of feed and to lower them down.  

Sometimes when Jeff the owner was a deputy people used to come in with their problems and fights.  Researching this building I was told that there was once an elevator that went from the basement to the second floor.  Today there is still a hole in the upstairs floor of where it used to be.  This was used to fill bags of feed and to lower them down.

Jeff and Suzanne bought the store in 1981 from his great-uncle Clarennce “Bud” Shultz who ran the store for nearly forty years.  Jeff and Suzanne as well as previous owners have done a great job in taking care of this 200+ historic building.  Upon operating and maintaining the upkeep of the building it has earned the recognization of one of the oldest and operating general stores in Kentucky.  Jeff and Suzanne have to clear this building everyday to keep it in great shape that it is in.  Jeff and Suzanne do not always see it as hard work because they have made many friends and enjoy talking with them.

When entering Hime’s General Store you can tell that it is very old.  The floors are hardwood, entrydoor shows of a old age, and is a great piece of history in Tolleseboro.  Jeff and Suzanne has made this store a center of this community by preserving a piece of Kentucky history and sharing it with everyone. 

Third Place: Jordan Doyle, 4th Grade, Tollesboro Elementary, Tollesboro

Title:  Himes General Store

Himes General Store is one of the oldest operating general stores in Kentucky.  It has been published in a book by the KY Humanities Council Inc. called “GOING ON 200”.  The store is also in the History museum in Frankfort on record for when it was built, what it sold, and who built the store.

Himes General Store was built in 1892 by James M. Toncray.  The second floor of the has had many uses over the years including buggy showroom, millinery shop, and archery gallery.  There was also a phone booth in the store at one time.  Ladies such as Haddie Nash loved to stop in at Himes General Store because it had a front porch and it kept them from getting wet on their horse and buggy, also it kept them from getting muddy.  The roads used to the Tolle roads from Maysville to Vanceburg and that’s how Tollesboro got it’s name.

Clarence “Bud” Shultz purchased Himes General Store from Omar Hamlin in 1944.  Bud Shultz brought some major innovations to the store such as refrigerated cases, selfservice, and television.  Selfservice wasn’t very popular because some customers could not read well enough to do their own shopping but television was a big hit.  Bud Shultz had the first television in Tollesboro.  On Saturday nights 150 people would come in to watch the country music shows.  Bud Shultz ran the General Store for nearly Forty years before selling it to his nephew, Jeff Himes in 1981.

Jeff Himes had been a previous resident of Tollesboro as a child until the age of twelve when his parent’s both being teachers moved to Cincinatti were Jeff meet his wife Suzanne.  Suzanne was a city girl who worked at Procter and Gamble.  Jeff worked for a hardware chain.

Now being the owners of Himes Grocery was quite a change for them.  Especially Suzanne since she had been borne and raised in the city.  Someone ask her for some wild duck (CHEWING TOBBACO) AND and she thought they wanted shotgun shells.  Time has passed since then and the grocery store has become a way of life that Suzanne and Jeff love.  They say Himes General Store is like the T.V. show cheers.  You know everyone in a small community and they share their life and dreams with you.  They become part of your everyday life and routine.

Himes General Store has progressed a lot over the years it has came a long way frome Tolle Booths and horse and buggy but it will always be a (MOM AND POP) grocery with a lot of variety and a lot of heart.  Jeff and Suzanne are just trying to keep the heritage alive

This essay and photograph(s) are the property of Preservation Kentucky, Inc. and Kentucky Heritage Council and that any use of the photo or essay must be approved by PK and KHC.