INSIDE THE COX FAMILY HARDWARE -- WHERE OLD MEETS NEW IN A SMALL TOWN COMMUNITY

COX HARDWARE STORE

Martha spoke to me on the phone today telling me she is the last Cox of the family to run the Cox Hardware store. The year it opened its doors for business was 1907 -- 104 years ago. Martha's husband was the last in the line of four generations to keep the business running. 


People in town asked her after her husband passed last year if she was going to sell the place. She responded to them with, "no, I have fun running this old hardware store."  She told me that she has worked in the store for thirty years and is very familiar with its operation. I asked her if Cox Hardware was independent. She quickly answered, "a hundred percent independent!" 

ASSORTED ITEMS FOR SALE PLACED ON OLD SHELVES AND BENCHES

Cox Hardware is located on Main Street in Mt. Vernon, Kentucky. It is a great store to find just what you need in the hardware line -- even one screw or two nails if that is all you need. Any questions -- someone is there to answer with a friendly smile. 

THE ORIGINAL OLD POT BELLY AND AN OLD SITTIN' BENCH

You can find newer types of paraphernalia here as well as the old. An example of an older type item would be oil lamps with chimneys and the oil to burn in  the lamps. Of course I can't list every new or old type of item that they carry as the list would be very long. 


It is a large hardware in an old brick storefront displaying lots of character with shiny original wood floors and antique items hanging or sitting around the store. Many of the cases and bins are original old  pieces. 

OLD HARDWARE BINS

At one time most small towns had a hardware store. Many have disappeared. Some say it is because of the influx of the big box stores like Lowes and Home Depot. But some family-owned hardware stores say that they are doing fine. They claim that their personal service and community attachments allow them to survive. They have met the challenge of having  the old ways remain while implementing some new practices. 

ONE OF MANY CASES TO HOLD STORE  ITEMS

Some small hardwares have become cooperatives, meaning they form as a group selling the products of a chain. And some have remained independent like Cox Hardware -- meaning running their own show. 

ANTIQUE GLASS DISPLAY CASES

Will the small town hardware stores survive? That is a question that can only be answered by the future.. 

PAINTED LADIES OF DANVILLE, KENTUCKY

The city of San Francisco, California, home of the renown houses dubbed the Painted Ladies, has nothing on Danville, Kentucky.  Only in Danville, the Painted Ladies are the commercial buildings located within the historic main street section. Above and below are a few examples of Danville Painted Ladies.

Multiple varieties of early ornamentation march along the blue and purple front facade of this storefront.

A thick wooden door with a very large one paned window greets customers. 
This pub provides cheer to their customers as does the rose and white colors on the facade.

Storefront colors of sky blue and cool white provide soft contrasts

A three story building splashes a cool aqua along 
its tall side wall at its corner position. 
Various Victorian-type ornamentation 
is painted out in various colors. 

Danville is a small town of 15,477 according to the 2000 census. In 2001 the town received a Great American Main Street Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Applause for its active awareness of its heritage.

UNADULTERATED OLD HOUSE IN SMALL TOWN

OLD ONE CAR GARAGE WITH NO TRESPASSING SIGN

A house in a very small town caught my  eye as I was driving down its main street. I instantly knew I wanted to find out more  about this place. I swung around and stopped in front of the house and noticed a sign attached to the  garage.  Sign said: NO TRESPASSING. Whoa, this stopped me dead in my tracks of going up to the door to introduce myself . I happened over to a nearby house and they told me the house was vacant --  and its owner was a lady in her eighties that was now living in a nursing home. 

FRONT OF THE HOUSE PORCH

With these few facts in hand I decided that I could take photos of the house from the street while searching  for clues about the the owner.

Initially, what attracted me to stop was the vernacular form of the house. But now I saw something else. -- it was the sitting porch standing as it probably stood when the elderly woman lived there. 

So, now I was looking at both the early architecture of the place and the front sitting porch. 


Based on the architecture, I put a date on the house as that of the early 1800s, It had not been restored, only preserved. It was an authentic example of a vernacular Federal/Greek Revival house.

So many questions swirled in my head:

--How long had she lived in the house?

--Was this a family home that had passed through several generations?

--Did she know who built the house or the garage or any of the outbuildings on the property?.

--Was it a large house because large families had lived in it?

Many other questions passed through my mind -- too many to write down here. 

OLD PORCH CHAIRS

Architecture aside, I turned to the sitting porch to seach for clues about the owner. It contained a little bit of interpretive material. 


The woman of eighty plus apparently liked plants as she had several planters sitting on the edge of the porch with remnants of former plants.

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She had some old metal chairs that appeared to be there for socializing.

OLD PORCH PLANT STANDS

Some old vintage plant stands stood empty on part of the porch. A chicken figure, that perhaps was a planter, sat on top of one of the stands. 

Together the architecture along with the materials on her porch seemed to tell me that over the years she made do with what she had. The house along with the porch artifacts  remained "as is" over the years.  "As is" meaning no changes. 

As an example of the remaining  "as is"  of the house architecture was the original weather-board siding, a few old outbuildings, old tin roof, original six over six  window panes (also called lights), column pilasters on the porch, and a fan light over the front door. 

My conclusion about the elderly lady was that she liked to socialize, loved plants, and liked things to remain as they were.

SIDE YARD WITH OUTBUILDINGS ON TOWN LOT

The over-all ambiance of the property gives one the ability to glance at a "real" historic setting -- not one that has been adulterated with the clean and sterile look of many museums.  The overall place is in context to its landscape -- a small town in Kentucky.

Its like an archaeological dig -- trying to interpret fragments into a viable story. Humans invariably leave debris when they have lived somewhere for any length of time.  The interpretation may not be entirely accurate but is usually fairly close to reality.

SMALL TOWN STONEMASON -- CHARLES JONES

CHARLES AND NATHAN AT WORK SITE

Now I am not going to say that I know everything about historic masonry -- but it is an interest of mine left over from a masonry class that I took at university many years ago.The class dealt with historic brick and stone -- I found the class tough yet intriguing.  So when I met Charles Jones, a stonemason of more than forty years, I was extremely delighted and  impressed with his knowledge. 

How did I find Charles? Well, I was driving through Lancaster, Kentucky when I spotted two men working on an elevated brick porch leading up to a beautiful historic building. I stopped in the middle of the street and called out my window, " do you have time to talk to me for a few minutes?" I really did not know that I was yelling to this expert tradesman on repairing historic brickwork. I just had a feeling I might learn something from this man and I sure did. 

CHARLES JONES

The man's name was Charles Jones and he was very receptive to taking a small break to explain a bit about what he was repairing. Parts of the brick porch needed to be re-grouted as they  were coming loose. He and his helper, Nathan, were in the process of re-grouting in the three photos below. He mixed up a special mix to use with the old bricks. 

Charles, a native of Lancaster, told me that he learned the trade from his father when he was young. His grandfather, many years ago, had hand mixed cement and laid all the sidewalks in Lancaster. Charles said he has witnessed the disappearance of many fine old buildings in Lancaster.

CHARLES AND HELPER ASSOCIATE NATHAN

Charles even walked down the street a little to show me a historic deteriorating brick house, built using old lime  mortar. He told me that this  type of mortar is found in very early brickwork. From the deteriorating foundation of the house he picked up a small piece of mortar and showed me how it crumbled easily as he broke it in his hand.  He told me that this was one of its characteristics. 

We then stood on the sidewalk as he pointed out repairs recently made to buildings on the commercial block. He gave a tally on a few of the buildings that had been altered or torn down in the main commercial section of town. 

CHARLES GROUTING

I then excused myself as I knew he had to continue the porch's repair. -- working along with his associate helper Nathan. 

HISTORIC IRONWORK RAILING

Preservation techniques such as Charles was doing help prolong the life of a building. In this case the porch being preserved -- it was well worth it for both  stability and aesthetics. The artistic early ironwork railing of the porch would be almost impossible to duplicate.

One can read books and articles about a subject but talking with a hands-on skilled tradesman can give you an education in a short amount of time. 

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FOR INFORMATION ON REPAIRING OLD BRICK AND STONE CLICK BELOW

U. S. Heritage Group


PRESERVATION BRIEFS

CREPE PAPER, PARADES AND LABOR DAY -- Sunday Simplicities

PROBABLY 40s SMALL TOWN PARADE

When I think of Labor Day visions of small town parades come into my head. I was raised in what was then a small town and I guess it still would be considered a small town had it has not been swallowed up by nearby growth, giving it the appearance today of being a larger whole. 

On Monday we will celebrate our federal holiday -- Labor Day -- established so in 1884 although its beginning really began in 1882. It came about thorough the labor union movement advocating for an 8 hour work day -- its proposal for a federal labor holiday said that there should be a parade to exhibit the strength and spirit of trade and labor unions. Thus, began the pattern of our Labor Day celebrations. 

MY BIKE AND I DECORATED IN CREPE PAPER
BEFORE THE PARADE

The photo at the top of this post was probably taken in one of the many small towns of our country in the 1940s. I picked up the photo in my wanderings through second hand stores -- looking for old photos and ephemera. Although I can't say it is a Labor Day parade -- it is similar -- lots of crepe paper decorating floats and trucks. I believe it is a forties photo as the women are in slacks probably a result of the WWII Rosie the Riveter influence. And, the fact that the cars along the side street were made in the 30s -- it was tough to get new model cars in the 40s because metals were needed for the war effort. Also, it was probably a small town as the crowds along the sidewalk are minimal. 

In this top photo we have the typical material used in parades to decorate floats, trucks, cars, and even people -- crepe paper. Crepe was a light weight paper that could be bought in either rolls or sheets in all colors. This material was great to twist and turn around vehicles in Labor Day parades. 

THE PARADE I RODE IN WITH THE COMMUNITY ATTENDING

I was subject to my mother's addiction for crepe paper decorating.. With love in her heart she produced a crepe paper dress for me to wear in our small town 40s parade and even decorated my bike  in matching colors with the paper.  I think the colors were red, white and blue if I remember correctly. But as a child I loved the dress and rode in the parade with a smile. 

The photo above is the parade I rode in. Children were encouraged to participate in the parade as well as citizens, organizations and politicians. It was a gathering of community for the small town. 

And why do I remember parades so fondly -- because I won a prize for being the best decorated person in the children's part of the parade -- thanks to my mom!

Have a good Labor Day everyone!

DYNAMIC ARCHITECTURE OF AN OHIO RIVER TOWN

OLD ROW HOUSES ALONG MARKET STREET
MAYSVILLE, KENTUCKY 

Maysville, Mason County, Kentucky, is a small town with a  large area of housing and commercial buildings that need to be seen to be appreciated. It is an old river town, along the Ohio River,  that had its beginning in the late 1700s.

Here is a town in situ (buildings not moved) that has remained viable for the folks that live in the area. There is a movement to upgrade sympathetically -- keeping the structure in line with its original design. 

I recently talked with Sara Swope from the Maysville Chamber of Commerce and Lynn David from the Kentucky Gateway Museum Center to ascertain the architectural history of their town. They were both very informative about the mindset of the folks that live there. They both said that the town had families going back several generations and were not anxious to change the architecture of the town. Many natives of the area owned the buildings and felt they should remain as they are.. With such citizens their buildings have become their architectural legacy to Kentucky. 

2ND STREET -- STREETSCAPE --  MAYSVILLE KENTUCKY

My trip to Maysville was a jaw-dropping experience. As I rode into town I was met by a commercial downtown that seems to have every historic type of style imaginable.. Known locally as Old Town, it reflected its economic pattern  by the types of buildings standing -- they were built from 1784 through the late 1800s. If you are a folklife or historic preservation student or layperson of architecture this is where you should visit, to not only see the structures but the connections that they have to the land and the social setting of the town, This is a real working and living town not a planned museum complex. 

OLD OPERA HOUSE -- 2ND STREET --  MAYSVILLE, KENTUCKY

Unfortunately, my time was very limited in the town. I had my camera with me however, some turned out dark as the sun was going down. Given the wrong conditions for taking streetscapes, I still pointed the camera and clicked. I wanted to at least give you a small window of some of Maysville's streetscapes. I plan to revisit this place often as it holds threads to our present life -- such as art history, architectural history, settlement patterns, economies, and a cultural matrix of other realities. 

A couple thoughts stood out in my mind as I glanced at the buildings. First and foremost was that the town essentially resembled a time warp. not economically but through their buildings. If I were designing a mid- 1800s movie location, I would say that this town would be the perfect set.

EARLY 1930s SHERWIN WILLIAMS SIGN, 2ND STREET

Above is an Italianate building that housed the Hendrickson Paint Company beginning in 1908  through 2004. The Sherwin Williams sign was installed on its facade in the early 1930s. Its retail business was paint, wallpaper and home furnishing. This is just one of the many examples of the historic and cultural  elements of the town.

2ND STREET -- STREETSCAPE
MAYSVILLE, KENTUCKY

More of  2nd Street. This street section appears to hold earlier buildings than the photo -- second one down from the top -- of this post.  Of course my fast glimpse of the town didn't allow time for close examination.

Ms Swope and Ms David provided quite a bit of detail of the Maysville area. Their generoisity and time was greatly appreciated. 

Now when I visit Maysville again (and again) I will allow plenty of time to take in the town.

VITALITY FOUND IN SMALL TOWN --Sunday Simplicities

FIDDLER AT THE CELTIC
FESTIVAL

I have written about the struggles that small towns have faced  trying to realize a viable commercial/retail main street. They face tough odds as box stores proliferate at the edges of their old commercial centers or perhaps businesses just up and leave altogether requiring a drive of several miles to buy even a common light bulb or similar small items. 

However, some small towns have found the magic key to staying alive and viable. One such town is Berea, Kentucky -- it has been able to maintain an energetic economy while retaining its old commercial centers. My photos in this post show some examples of attributes.

LANDSCAPE PODS ALONG MAIN STREET

After I took early retirement, I worked at different short term positions. One was helping small towns revitalize. I offered grant and historic preservation consulting. Working with these towns made me aware of the problems they were trying to head off. It seemed a no-win situation at times. I learned as much from the people of these towns as they learned from me. 

WELL MAINTAINED BUILDINGS
 ALONG WITH VIBRANT
 PLANT CONTAINERS ALONG
 MAIN STREET

What does Berea do that keeps the energy flowing, I'll mention what I have observed as a visitor to the town. They do have a few things in place that certainly helps the town stem the tide of gloom and doom of other small towns. One, they have Berea College, a nationally known liberal small college.Two, they established the area as a recognized arts community. Three, they maintain their physical assets such as commercial buildings, parking and streets. And four, they bring to the town on a very regular basis, lecturers, music, festivals, and other events that encourage citizen participation as well as tourists.

FULL TIME STAFFING
 TO MAINTAIN
 STREET PLANTINGS

Granted, not all small towns have the money or organization to bring their towns back from obscurity but perhaps taking it step by step in the right direction  can result in  being a viable town for the community. 

INVITING BACK SIDES OF
COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS

Small town revitalization is a large issue that cannot be addressed in this small post but I believe it can be done over time with active town citizens

SMALL TOWN ARCHITECTURAL DOORS -- KENTUCKY

Double set of entrance doors to Cox's Hardware store. In business since 1907. The small town of Mt Vernon's streetscape reflected in their door windows.

Appears to be original entrance door on a vacated storefront business. Tile work entrance also appears to be original. Approximate building age -- 100 plus years.

Commercial entrance door -- 1940s type -- stands empty.

Empty storefront double set of doors. Building architecture is Romanesque style.

Recessed commercial door entrance -- matching wood panels with windows flanking the door. CLOSED

Appears to be original hardware on recessed entrance door above.

KENTUCKY -- RURAL SURVIVAL

OVERVIEW OF THE VILLAGE OF PAINT LICK, KENTUCKY

I was standing on a hill overlooking the quaint village of Paint Lick when I took this photo of their commercial main street a couple of winters ago. Paint Lick is but one of the many small towns in Kentucky that strive to flourish under ongoing changing circumstances.

This village consists of a very small commercial area (the proverbial main street) which serves the rural residents of the area. Of course, in today's economic world such small main streets can only provide limited offerings. Many of the small towns and villages in Kentucky keep glued together by being located fairly near an urban city that can provide much of what rural residents cannot get locally. However, small places such as Paint Lick offer what many folks are looking for: low crime, neighborliness, strong community, family ties, heritage, and the strong intangibles that these factors imply.

WEST SIDE OF PAINT LICK COMMERCIAL MAIN STREET

The combination of access of an urban area and strong community spirit attract some new people while sustaining the existing residents. Residents learn to work with what they don't have in terms of services. Paint Lick doesn't have a gas station but it does have a car repair garage, bank, post office and until recently a cafe where the locals would converse about various subjects such as farming. Unfortunately the cafe recently burnt down.

EAST SIDE OF PAINT LICK'S COMMERCIAL MAIN STREET

In 1939 a book was published titled the WPA Guide to Kentucky. It was part of Roosevelt’s New Deal program to provide employment for writers under the Federal Writers Project. He commissioned writers to publish state guides of discovery for tourists as well as for residents to become more knowledgeable about their state.

Where am I going with this information? Well, I have a 1996 re-published edition of the 1939 edition of the WPA Kentucky Guide wrote and researched by the Federal Writers Project. I wanted to get their definition of Kentucky in 1939 as well as that of Paint Lick. The writers felt that their writings should be more than about history, that it should, “capture the spirit of the land, mostly rural, indefinable but very real."

This is what I wanted to hear -- writers that looked at the soul of a place.

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Although Paint Lick was limited to a very short mention they were able to write something significant that I had not been able to find elsewhere in my research -- that of the Indian symbols. Here is the short mention of Paint Lick: . . . a hamlet near the site of Paint Lick Station, which was established in 1782, and so named because the first settlers found Indian symbols painted in bright colors on trees and stones along the creek and around the near-by salt lick."

PAINT LICK MAIN COMMERCIAL STREET IN 1908 AFTER THEY SUFFERED A FIRE.
Web Site Source: PAINT LICK Garrard County, Kentucky

Paint Lick is a small town that manages to stay afloat because of its proximity to an urban area. It still has its small town flavor while growing incrementally. It has faced many challenges since its first days of settlement. One example is the tragic fire in the above main street photo. It has experienced population shifts mainly in the 40s through the 60s to the Midwest for manufacturing jobs. Presently rural farmers are experiencing a change of their farming culture -- from growing tobacco as a prime cash crop to now finding new crops to provide continuing farming opportunities. It appears that staying viable for small towns and villages is an ongoing process that takes stamina of the rural population.

EARLY YEARS OF PAINT LICK -- PRE--1908

Website Source: PAINT LICK, Garrard County, Kentucky

At one time Paint Lick consisted of mainly wooden buildings pre 1908. Its tenacity to the land provided the impetuous to remain a slowly growing village. In 1939 the population was 250 (WPA Guide to Kentucky), 2000 the population of Paint Lick was 2,084 (city-data.com) and in 2007 the population had increased to 3,293 (city-data.com).

DISTRIBUTION OF RESIDENTS AGES

Source: City-Data.com

One of the factors that is important to look at is the age of the residents. Age diversity indicates a viable population. The graph above shows that Paint Lick has citizens of all ages. Some for delight such as young children, many for working power such as the middle ages, and several in the older ages to hand-down proven ways and wisdom.

Paint Lick has the tools to survive as a rural village.