The Joseph Carver General Merchandise store was constructed in 1916 in Jackson County's Liberty community. The year 1916 was a year of change for the Carver family, as Joseph Carver's father Sam built the Liberty church of Christ building next door. Joseph also operated a grist mill and blacksmith shop on the Carver Farm. The Carver store served as the hub of commerce in the Liberty community. A variety of household, food, and clothing items could be purchased at the store. Joseph and Sam sold farm goods from the family farm as well as goods from Joseph's grist mill and blacksmith shop. Based on family documents and research done by the author's grandmother, Joseph Carver had another store located down the road in Granville. That store was known as Carver and Company, and was ran by Carver, Oscar Grisham, and Berry Shirley. Carver continued to run his stores until his health began to fail in 1932. Since the Liberty store was located on the Carver Farm, Joseph decided to rent it. The Granville store was sold to Carl Huff. The first tenant in the Liberty store was Henry Harris. Harris ran the store until 1938. Walton Agee and Cordell Ragland later rented the store. Just before the second world war, Harris came back and ran the store for awhile. Throughout the 1940s however, John Frank Pruett rented and ran it. Towards the end of the store's life, its tenants included W.B. "Bice" Johnson, Eldridge Philpot, and Robert T. Harris. By the late 1950s, the store was shut down. There was no need for a store in Liberty, due to the rise of stores in nearby Gainesboro, Nameless, and Granville. Today the store has become extremely dilapidated. The Joseph Carver General Merchandise Store was vital to early life in the Liberty community.
Author's Note: This will be the first installment in a multi week Throwback Thursday series on the Carver family, and life in the Liberty community of Jackson County.
Be sure to come back next week for another installment of Moore Historical Consulting's Throwback Thursday series. Whether your need is genealogy, historic ligation, preservation, or anything in between, Moore Historical Consulting has you covered. Put me to work for you today.
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