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Wagners Grocery in Church Hill, Mississippi opened its doors in 1870 1837 (confirmed by Adolph Wagner and Natchez Trace Travel has the store built as early as 1837) and was in operation until 1997 and was donated to the Church Hill historic society for preservation. The store is the oldest known all-wooden heart pine country store that had a post office in the southeastern United States.
Wagners Grocery in Church Hill, Mississippi – History
Historical records show that the store was first operated by a Mr. Moses and Mr. Marx. Then around 1877 Mr. Marx purchased the store. Records show that they were in operation of the store through the 1880s and 1890s and a Mr. Jacobs was in operation of the store after Mr. Moses and Mr. Marx.
In 1928 Mr. Adolph Wagner and Mrs. Maggie Octavia Wagner purchased the business. During that time, the store also served as the post office. The store served as the post office and Mrs. Wagner was the post master until the 1960s. In the 1960s, Mrs. Wagner’s son, Adolph, took over as post master and ran the post office from the store until the post office was closed in 1992. Mr. Wagner ran the store until he closed it in 1998.
Wagners Grocery in Church Hill, Mississippi – About the Building
The original building was a 3-bay building and a 4th bay was added around the first quarter of the 20th century. The central bay still has the original doors with glazed glass and shutters. Those windows are flanked by windows that still have their original shutters. On the inside, the store still has some of its original fixtures! Those fixtures are the old counters with molded (ogee and angle) panels on the front and sides (Not sure if these were still in there. I only had a limited view through the windows).
The Condition of the Store
During our visit in January 2018, we found the store to be in rough shape. The building had a lot of rot but looks structurally ok. Its in desperate need of restoration.
About the Images
The images were shot by hand during an overcast afternoon with my Sony A6000 using a Sigma 30mm F.2.8 DN Lens. I then used Adobe Lightroom, Topaz Adjust and Google Nik Collection to remove noise and clean up the images.
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About James
It was built in 1837. I have the paper work here on our store.
Thanks for the confirmation. I’ve updated the date. I found multiple websites that listed the date as 1870 and the National Register doesn’t list the store age as 1837. The history listed there is a little confusing with different dates and I was planning to reach out to your family next time I was in the area for more information on the store.