By Christopher Harris

At Amon ' s Sugar Shack , life is pretty sweet .

For almost 75 years now , the Amon ' s name has been synonymous with quality , fresh-baked deliciousness in Somerset , from bread to cakes to the all-important doughnut .

" We ' ve been blessed with many , many customers who have found us over the years ," said owner Doug Stephens . " We ' ve been a moving target ."

That ' s because Amon ' s has had many different homes in Somerset over the years before it settled into its current location along busy South U . S . 27 , across from Walmart — but one thing that hasn ' t changed is the mission to reward Somerset taste buds for having found them .

Amon ' s Bakery started in 1951 , the year before Stephens was born , by his parents , Rosemary and the eponymous Amon Stephens . Before it became the Amon ' s known so well by local residents today , people were enjoying the flavors and smells being cooked up in a certain downtown kitchen below the pool halls of Zachary Way — at one time , a notable alleyway in Somerset that has since given way to the judicial center plaza .

" My great-uncle had started it , and wanted to sell it ," said Doug Stephens . " So Dad

bought it for Mom on her birthday , January 18 , 1951 . She always said it was the birthday gift that kept on giving ."

Following a fire in the mid-1950s , Amon ' s Bakery turned the corner onto East Mt . Vernon Street and set up shop where Citizens National Bank now houses some of its offices . Next , the Pulaski Bakery down the street closer to the Virginia

Cinema had an owner that was wanting to retire ; Amon Stephens bought that bakery in 1958 .

The Tradewind Shopping Center opened on U . S . 27 in 1966 and was the hot commercial place to be , so shortly thereafter , Amon ' s opened up a satellite store there , while keeping the one downtown . About a year later , they went all in on the new spot along

the growing " strip " of highway that changed the landscape of Somerset , drawing more and more entrepreneurs over the years until it became the bustling array of businesses it is today .

However , " somewhere about 1971 , they got nostalgic and wanted to go back downtown ," said Doug Stephens of his parents . So they opened up a restaurant and

bakery in the old Krystal Kitchen space , back in their old haunts of the East Mt . Vernon Street area .

Next , the Somerset Mall opened in 1981 , and became the place to be in town , so Amon ' s put a secondary location there . In 1990 , they moved out of the mall and on to the next hotspot , the thennew Grand Central Place shopping center .

" They stayed there until about 1995 ; things were not going so well , so they consolidated back to the main one at Tradewinds ," said Stephens .

Next , they moved closer to the hospital on U . S . 27 , and then bought out a business called " The Sugar Shack " closer to the bowling alley , taking that name and becoming Amon ' s Sugar Shack , as it ' s known today .

" It had been open maybe three years before we bought it out ," said Stephens . " The people ( who owned it ) were going to do something else with the property ."

Finally , in 2007 , Amon ' s found its current home on U . S . 27 .

" This has been the best location yet ," said Stephens . " It offers a drive-thru , plenty of parking , and it ' s in a good location ."

It ' s not just the locals who have fallen in love with Amon ' s over the years , however . Almost 20 years ago , Amon ' s went national thanks to a little bit of good press .

" After we took over ( the Sugar Shack ), we had a doughnut called the Southern pecan doughnut ," said Stephens . " Southern Living Magazine was here on some kind of press junket to see Lake Cumberland . They stopped in and got one of those doughnuts . They loved the doughnut , and they thought it was