If you recall, awhile back I did something on how Dameron got its name from Thomas Leroy Dameron (click here). He owned and operated this Store, photo of which Frankie Tippett recently located.
I enlarged the sign to see that the Store was established in 1901. By comparison, Buzzy’s Country Store was started by Nathan Schuman in 1887.
Given that T.L. was a Civil War prisoner freed from Pt. Lookout, it makes me wonder what he was doing from the War’s end in 1865 to 1901. Either the sign is incorrect, T.L. was doing something else, or perhaps he had another store in the Dameron area prior to this one. That the sign says “& Son” could mean that his son James was also in the mix. Maybe 1901 marks that transition to “& Son” as T.L. would have been getting on in years at that time.
I have also, included comments made by folks who saw this on the You Know You Are From St. Mary’s FB site. Bill Dalton’s comment about buying a bag of penny candy is one that I hear a lot from folks when they talk about their memories of visiting a country store.
