Gulley Store - Hutton Valley

For years, I observed the abandoned old store on the east side of what became Howell County Route U, never knowing the treasures inside or the many stories of its importance to a rural village like Hutton Valley. I didn't realize the building was over one hundred years old when I first started noticing in 1974. After crossing the soon abandoned Current River Railroad tracks, coming into Hutton Valley, just to the right was the Frisco train station. As you continued toward town, a large wooden mercantile building in a row of buildings to the left on the south side of Main Street sat the Gulley Store.

 

I don't know what the original store was called when it was built by Marion Smith and Henry Bolin in 1873. The Gulley moniker came ten years later. The store was in a good location along the old horse/oxen trail running north-south, which was traveled when going to Rolla, the nearest railhead. Until the Current River Railroad was built in the early 1890s, a lot of traffic used the road, which was a substantial road after the Civil War, when thousands of troops of both armies marched through Howell County. 

 

In 1969 and 1970, Ella Horak wrote in the Howell County Historical Society magazine and in her Willow Springs and Surrounding Communities book, "Marion Smith and Henry W. Bolin, in partnership, built a two-story frame store building in Hutton Valley in 1873 and put in a well-stocked general store. After a few years, Mr. Smith did not like being indoors and sold his share to P.N. Gulley. His partner Bolin then sold his house and store to Mr. Gulley on February 1, 1883.

 

Pleasant N. Gulley, born in Tennessee in 1824, was well known in northern Howell County, and he was one of the original pioneers, arriving here with his wife in 1856. He was a successful farmer and served on the Howell County Commission (called County Court then) as a "judge," a title the remainder knew him of his life. Pleasant was one of the oldest Mount Pisgah Baptist Church organizers in Howell County and an active member until death. On another note, he chewed and smoked tobacco all his adult life and was well-known throughout southern Missouri as an avid Jack Salmon fisherman and sportsman.

 

Ella noted of the store, " The original building stands on the old foundation today (1970). The building probably has the original boards in place, as those old square nails refuse to budge. Even the boardwalk in front, under a roof, is there with original boards with minor repairs. The roof has been changed to galvanized steel." The original roof was wood-shake shingled. It was a remarkable building.

Pleasant N. Gulley ran the store, later putting his son John Gulley in charge. Ella wrote, "Mr. Gulley kept a well-stocked general store. He had groceries, dry goods, shoes, hardware, and notions, such as needles, pins, buttons, thread (black and white), fly papers, sealing wax, elastic, lace, and embroidery trimmings. One could get just about anything needed. You name it, and John Gulley had it. I remember the cracker barrel. Mr. Gulley would weigh out into a paper bag the quantity of crackers a customer wanted. Sugar came by the barrel. We got five or six pounds for a quarter. I know we got three of those extra-large oatmeal boxes for a quarter. I carried many of them home on Old Beck, one of the family mules. Gulley had a screen wire cheese container. Cheese came in big round cakes, ten to twelve pounds in one cake. He kept the cheese in the screen wire cage so the flies could not get to it. He would cut off a big chunk and weigh it on his scales in a paper sack."

 

Ella continued, "Oh yes, that cheese was good. Just as pleasing to the taste as what we buy today done up in fancy packages. Salt came by the barrel and was weighed out to customers. My dad always bought a barrel of salt every fall to have plenty for home use, for butchering and livestock. We didn't know of block salt in those days. A box of this fine salt was much better for stock to lick than a cold hard block of salt on cold days."

 

"Coffee (green) beans came in bulk, sold by the pound. The women would roast the green coffee in their cook ovens, stirring often until the coffee was golden brown. Then, they would grind the beans in small coffee grinders to make coffee. Later, Mr. Gulley had pound packages of Arbuckle Coffee, either green or parched. Arbuckle gave the first coupons that I remember. Later, Mr. Gulley had a coffee grinder in his store. One could dump in a whole pound of coffee, run a crank, and grind a whole pound in less time than it took to grind enough to make one pot of coffee at home. This was the first machine of its kind in the Hutton Valley community."

 

"Just back of this counter were the grocery shelves on the west wall of the store. On it were some packaged foods such as oatmeal, Arm & Hammer baking soda, whole spices, cinnamon bark, stick cloves, allspice, black pepper, etc. These spices had to be ground or pulverized for use. On the shelves were medicines such as quinine, castor oil, turpentine, Carter's Liver Pills, and arsenic of lead for rat poisoning. Also on these shelves, Mr. Gulley had dishes, china, and glass. On the floor near the back of the store were kerosene barrels. Everyone had kerosene lamps and bought kerosene by the gallon."

 

"On the east wall of the building were dry goods shelves. Mr. Gulley had calico of every color and design at five cents per yard: bleached and unbleached muslin and woolen goods. They were pure cotton, wool, linen, and China silk in those days." 

 

"Mr. Gulley kept those high-top button or lace shoes for girls and women, perhaps $1.50 a pair, and dress shoes for men and boys besides the old brogan work shoes for farmers. On the east side of the building is a lean-to room where Mr. Gulley kept his hardware, except nail kegs he kept under the shelves on the west side near his scales to weigh the nails as he sold them, 6 penny, 10 penny, spikes, and horseshoe nails. He had hand saws, cross-cut saws, buck saws, hammers, axes, hoes, plowshares, bolts, horseshoes, mule shoes, pitchforks, brooms, curry combs, picks, shovels, scoops - you name it, he had it. Extras were stored upstairs."

 

In 1970, the Howell County Historical Society held a meeting and tour of the Gulley Store. Ella wrote, "As one enters the old building, the front entrance has never changed; the first thing you see to your right is the curved glass showcase where Mr. Gulley kept candies, gum, and such treats. The building was heated in the winter by a big Franklin wood stove near the center of the store, and an upright stovepipe, with elbow turn, was connected to the flue at the back of the store. The southeast corner was screened-off office space. There is a back door with steps down to a back lot where a cistern furnished water. A cedar bucket was kept on a shelf at the back of the store, with a long handled tin dipper. Customers were welcome to have a drink while shopping in the store. Mr. Gulley bought (from local farms) chickens, eggs, butter, and sides of bacon (hickory home-cured). Most of the farmers kept shoulders and hams for home use with plenty of bacon." Ella remembered her mother selling eggs for five cents per dozen and butter at ten cents a pound. 

 

John Gulley operated the store for over fifty years, and his sons assisted him as they matured. His son Harold ran things until January 1, 1969, when he sold it to Duane Henry of West Plains. Mrs. Henry was a great-granddaughter of P.N. Gulley. According to newspapers, her intent was to turn the store into a museum, which it was. I was fortunate to see the store inside before its contents were auctioned, but I had to miss the sale. I have the mail rack from the store (it was the Hutton Valley Post Office for many years) and some of the little tin scoops used to sell small quantities of candy and goods. 

 

A few years later, the Gulley Store was torn down to make way for a new home for a young couple. Across Route U on the right side of the road stands the impressive two-story home built by P.N. Gulley and occupied by his descendants for years. Larry and Lynette Thomas now live there. 

 

Hutton Valley was more significant than Willow Springs when the Gulley Store was built. The arrival of the railroad in Willow Springs in 1882 started a decline when many living there moved to jobs in Willow Springs. The building of the Current River Railroad balanced things a bit and made it easier to supply the store. From oxcarts to the automobile, the Gulley Store saw many changes, but good management ensured the people of my community they would have a place to get supplies without a big trip. 

 

I suspect many reading this have stories to tell of the store, as so many in Howell County have roots in Hutton Valley. My wife attended the Hutton Valley School, around the corner from the store. She recalls the candy cases and clean, shining glass, and John's son Harold is at the counter, kindly waiting on the children. She is related to the Gulleys through marriage, leading me to another of John's sons, Grover Gulley, who would return to Hutton Valley for family visits with lots of stories of the old times. Many in Howell County have roots in Hutton Valley, one of our oldest towns, and I'm sure they can share additional stories. My favorite is this one - I was out front of the store taking a photo one time and met an older fellow in town (I'm about his age now) who told me of someone finding a gold coin in the road near the store. I've never walked through there without my eye bulging and looking hard, but the real treasure for me is the memory of this grand old building.