T.B. Sutton General Store: The Heartbeat of Granville, Tennessee

What you are about to read is the complete "narrative statement of significance" from the National Register of Historic Places Nomination on the T.B. Sutton General Store. This store was officially entered into the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior on May 7, 2019. It is the sixth National Register site in Jackson County, Tennessee.

Located in the northeast section of Middle Tennessee’s Central Basin, the area that came to be known as Jackson County, Tennessee was an attractive place for late eighteenth and early nineteenth century European settlement due to rich soil and closeness to the Cumberland and Roaring Rivers. Gainesboro became the first major city; it was designated as the county seat in 1820. Soon, European settlers began moving west from the city in search of homesteads. Granville, about five miles west of Gainesboro, became a popular area due to its location along the river.

Early on, large plantations dominated the area. It was not until 1822 that a post office was established. In 1829 the Tennessee State Legislature authorized Augustine Shepard to lay out a town. Shepard called the town “Shepardsville.” When the town was finally incorporated in 1830, the town’s name was changed to Granville. The lifeline of the new town was agriculture and the steamboat. Eventually the need arose for churches, schools, and commercial centers.

According to deeds on file at the Granville History Museum, William H. Ragland is responsible for constructing this store in 1880. The building was constructed using artisan labor. These labor elements are evident by looking at the hewn stone in the building’s basement. The building’s footprint is approximately two hundred feet to the south of the Cumberland River. This location made it easy for steamboats to deliver goods to the store throughout its years of operation.

Soon after construction of the store, Ragland sold the property to B.F. Cooper who owned it until his death in 1923 when it passed to his successor A.H. Willoughby. In 1925, Thomas Benjamin Sutton (T.B. Sutton or Ben Sutton) became the owner. Local newspaper accounts indicate that Ragland may have continued to manage the store until 1916 when R.S. Sutton took over until his son Ben Sutton bought the property in 1925. Regardless of exact ownership and management chain, the store has fulfilled a commercial need in Granville since its construction. Under Ben Sutton’s ownership, the store’s role in the community grew as it became the most prosperous commercial center in the Granville community.

For rural communities, general stores functioned as an important place to buy necessities that could not be made locally. Ben Sutton offered a very wide variety of goods and services during the forty-three years he ran this store. These goods ranged from food and clothing, to fertilizer and feed. Food items included but were not limited to corn meal, flour, bread, and meat. Clothing items could be purchased for any and all members of the family. Clothing items ranged from overalls and boots for men and boys, to dresses and hats for women and girls. Tools such as knives, saws, washboards, and brooms were available for purchase by consumers. Sutton also sold John Deere farming equipment. In the basement Sutton kept chickens. These chickens were sold both locally and statewide. They were often transported using the steamboat. A first person account of a Granville resident remembered chickens being herded from the steamboat right into the basement of the store. There is also an account of some of the chickens getting loose in the main store room.

Earliest known picture of the Sutton General Store

In addition to selling dry goods, Ben Sutton also ran a pharmacy, barbershop, and “fix it shop” inside of this store building. These entities truly made Sutton Store a “one stop shop” for all residents of the Granville community. An average Granville resident could come to Sutton Store and shop for clothing and food, get their prescriptions filled, get their hair cut, and bring in any farm or household tool that needed to be repaired all at the same time.

Mr. Thomas Benjamin (T.B.) Sutton.

Other stores in Granville came and went, but none had the variety of goods and services and stood the test of time like Ben Sutton’s did. One such store was the Kelly Store. Opened around 1870 by F.A. Kelly, this store was the first commercial institution in Granville. After W.H. Ragland and later B.F. Copper and T.B. Sutton opened their store, their large variety of goods and services forced the Kelly store to close in 1914. Kelly and his family moved to Gallatin, Tennessee, where he entered the real estate business. Joseph Rueben Carver and cousin, Berry Shirley, opened a store next door to Sutton Store known as Carver and Company. This store was designed to be an extension of Carver’s store located on his family’s farm (NR Listed 7/31/18). In 1932 Carver’s health failed him and he was forced to sell his store to Oscar Grisham. Grisham operated the old Carver store until he went bankrupt in 1939. Perhaps Ben Sutton’s greatest competition came from the Granville Mercantile Company. Operated by Thurman Dowell, Arthur Willoughby, and S.E. Tinsley, this store opened in 1923 in a brick building located directly across the street from Sutton Store. The Mercantile had a large selection of goods and services that rivaled Sutton’s. However the fact that Ben Sutton provided such personal service and was known as a gentle, courteous man attracted people to his store. The Mercantile closed in 1963. All this information proves the point that the T.B. Sutton General Store was indeed Granville’s main, most popular, and longest lasting commercial center. It is interesting to note that all of these other stores failed in some financial way, whereas Ben Sutton closed his store due to his advanced age. All these stores sold the same goods that Ben Sutton did, but Sutton’s business practices were just that much better. For example, during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Ben Sutton made and exchanged “tokens” to give to customers who sold him their eggs. The value of a token could then be applied towards other items bought by the customer. These tokens would offset the tax that individuals would otherwise be required to pay, which aided with customer’s financial burdens while the economy was poor. As of 2018, Sutton General Store and the Mercantile Building are the only extant nineteenth or early twentieth century commercial buildings in Granville. The Mercantile is currently in the process of rehabilitation.

Throughout American history, rural country stores have served a wide range of purposes. Not only were they the main commercial hubs for their respective communities, but they also served as the main social hub for these communities as well. Store keepers were often the source of gossip and community news. Men would come to whittle, smoke tobacco, and “shoot the bull.” This was no different at Granville’s Sutton General Store, as the front porch became the main gathering place for residents of Granville. Men would gather on the porch and whittle, and recap the events of the day. The lunch counter was popular with men, women, and children, as they could get a quick and affordable bite to eat. Both White and African-American residents of Granville gathered on the front porch of Sutton Store. It is interesting to think about the many topics that were discussed on Sutton Store’s front porch and at its lunch counter. These topics may have ranged from politics, and sports, to farming and marriage advice. Sutton Store not only met the commercial needs of the Granville community, but the social needs of the residents as well.

According to lifelong Granville African-American resident Greg High, there was no segregation inside Sutton Store. Both African-Americans and Whites could shop from the same racks and displays. He remembered that his family never experienced segregation in their years of living in Granville. He said that “Sutton Store was fully integrated and welcoming to African-Americans.” High said that the only time his family was exposed to segregation, was when they traveled to Cookeville or Carthage.

Ben Sutton and his wife Ethel were life-long residents of the Granville community. Ethel was devoted to her husband throughout the years he operated the store, as she worked in the store with him. She had inherited her childhood home, located just a block to the east of the store, where she and Ben lived until Ethel died in 1968. In that same year, Ben closed the store and moved to North Carolina to be with family. He died in 1975. Both are buried in the Granville Cemetery.

Mrs. Ethel Sutton

After Sutton left, John Clemons briefly operated the store but closed it in 1971 due to declining life in Granville. The main reason for the decline of life in Granville was the discontinuation of the steamboat. Another major factor that contributed to the small community’s decline was the construction of Center Hill Dam, which resulted in the flooding of much of the town’s farmland. The older generation passed away, and their children and grandchildren moved to bigger cities for better jobs. In an article written by Louise Davis in the Nashville Tennessean, the town of Granville was described as “a once busting street, now bordered in weeds and sagging buildings.” The store sat empty for the next few years, becoming extremely dilapidated. Siding, particularly on the façade, deteriorated quickly. The façade’s second floor one-over-one windows were removed and the openings infilled with wood. The feed room’s floor deteriorated and nearly collapsed. At some point the Sutton Store building was used as an auction house. This is evident by a sign that was affixed to the store building’s facade in a pre-restoration photograph. In any event, the store, and the entire town of Granville became a “ghost town,” for the next thirty years.

In 1999, the Granville community was given a second chance. The old Granville Church of Christ building, located two doors down from Sutton Store, was purchased by Joe Moore and Randall Clemons. The two men had a goal of preserving the community’s history and restoring life back into the town. The old church building was repaired and outfitted for a new life as a history museum. That same year, Moore, Clemons, and other concerned citizens set plans in motion for a festival called “Granville Heritage Day.” Tourists came from all around to see what Granville had to offer.

In 2000 Harold and Beverley Sutton attended Granville’s annual Heritage Day Festival. The Suttons immediately took notice of the old store building. Ironically, Harold Sutton’s father’s name was Ben Sutton, but was not related to the Ben Sutton who ran this store historically. Harold Sutton purchased the store and its contents. The store was almost beyond renovation, but Sutton tried anyway. Being careful to preserve the original materials, Sutton gave the store new life. He and his crew raised the feed room 37 and 1/2 inches in order to repair the foundation. They also restored the original weatherboard siding on the side elevations, as well as the wood trim in the interior. Most of the store fixtures within the store are original to the building, having all been recovered during the store’s renovation. By the next year’s Heritage Day, the store had reopened, offering ice cream, chips, and sodas to visitors. In 2007 the Suttons donated the store to Historic Granville Incorporated who continue to operate the store today.

Today the T.B. Sutton General Store remains the main attraction in the Granville community. This store was vital in the development of the Granville community and remains vital in keeping tourism in Granville alive. The store serves as both a tourist attraction and restaurant, Wednesday through Saturday, with weekly Bluegrass shows on Saturday nights, and Andy Griffith Show dinner plays that coincide with the Christmas and Valentine’s Day holidays. Many items that visitors today can purchase are items that were historically sold by Ben Sutton. These items include corn meal, Key brand overalls, Case knives, and candy. The display cases and shelves that visitors shop from are the same ones that were used by Sutton himself. The Bluegrass Shows are broadcasted nationwide on radio stations such as Nashville’s WSM. The store has been featured in magazine publications such as Country Living, and Taste of the South. Most recently The National Geographic Traveler – UK Edition paid a visit to Sutton Store and did a feature on both the store and its Saturday night Bluegrass shows. The T.B. Sutton General Store continues to be one of the major tourist attractions in the Upper Cumberland and is one of the finest works of historic preservation in the area. In 2009 the Tennessee Historical Commission awarded Historic Granville Incorporated a certificate of excellence in historic preservation for their efforts in preserving Sutton Store. The commercial and social history of the T.B. Sutton General Store at a local level makes it worthy of inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

The Tennessee Department of Tourism said it best when telling of the T.B. Sutton General Store's historical significance: "Sutton General Store is one of our Tennessee treasures. It is a fixture of Granville's town, and is essential to the town's tourism business. Sutton General Store is to Granville what the Grand Ole Opry is to Nashville and Country Music. It is impossible to measure the importance, except to say it is indispensable."

The T.B. Sutton General Store is open to the public year around. Its hours of operation are as follows:

Wednesday-Friday: 10:00 am-3:00 pm

Saturday: 10:00 am-8:00 pm

At Moore Historical Consulting my #1 priority is historic preservation. Do you own a historic home, commercial building, or farm? If so contact me today to learn more about the historic preservation strategies I offer. These include nominations to the National Register of Historic Places, nominations for a Permanent Conservation Easement, nominations to the Century Farms program, and writing text for historic makers. At Moore Historical Consulting I make exploring and preserving your past fun and easy.