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a central role in the life of the thriving agricultural community of Montgomery County. They did business the old-fashioned way for years, delivering goods to farms at no charge, and running credit accounts that were billed monthly in handwritten invoices. The younger Pooles took their afternoon naps under the cash register counter while their mom sold the muchloved hot dogs to shoppers. Many people remember the large jar of pickles and stick pretzels on the counter. Billie Poole’ s popular deli counter offered homemade tangy barbecue, chicken salad and egg salad sandwiches, and bean soup that were staple lunches for busy farmers on the run, cyclists, C & O Canal hikers, and Ag Reserve tourists. Sunny weekend afternoons often featured visitors sitting on the store’ s front porch steps enjoying their lunch.
The store provided an essential
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detailed wood models of historic homes and barns in the area and displayed them in the store. A devoted local history buff, he has collected a wide variety of relics around the region that he often shared with others at the store. He also sheared sheep for local sheep farmers in the field next to the store.
In 1972 Hurricane Agnes caused major flooding in the region and did serious damage to the store, with more than a foot of water inside. When the Allnutts could not get funding for repairs due to frequent flood risk, Montgomery Parks bought the site, and the Pooles continued to run it.
But decades later as the family faced rising operating costs and caring for their parents, they felt compelled to close the store in 2010. The community felt the loss deeply. At that time it had operated for 109 years, longer than any
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service and gathering place for | ||
the local livestock and commodity | ||
farmers. In its heyday it was a classic | ||
general store selling groceries | ||
, boots and shoes, clothing, | ||
PHOTOS this page: Wib Middleton |
hardware, farm supplies, kitchen |
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staples, and home goods. They | ||
also sold state hunting and fishing | ||
Through its long history, first with the Allnutts and then the Poole family, it has been an economic and social hub of the UpCounty. The Allnutt family ran the store until 1965, when Raymond Poole— the store’ s only employee— and his wife Billie leased the building and took over the business. For many years, along with their six children, they played |
licenses and served as a deer weigh-in station during hunting season. Kids could bring bottles in to cash in on the two-cent deposit refund. Locals even called it the“ town hall,” and regulars arrived on Saturday mornings to discuss weather predictions, crop yields, share hunting stories, gossip, and tell tall tales.
Oldest son Jim Poole made
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A turkey vulture guards the merchandise. |