General stores were the economic and social centerpieces of rural communities throughout Mecklenburg County in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Unquestionably, the best preserved store of this type in Mecklenburg County is the S. W. & C. S. Davis General Store in Croft, a small settlement on the railroad between Charlotte and Huntersville. Silas Winslow Davis, “Silas”, a native of northern Mecklenburg, and his brother, Charles Spencer Davis, “Charlie”, established their business in 1890, operating out of their parents’ home which was near the present-day Alexandriana Historical Park. Prior to beginning construction on the brick store, the brothers utilized an abandoned mill (located across the road from the current location) for their mercantile. In 1908, the current store was completed, and has been in operation by members of the Davis family ever since.
Croft and its general store would have never developed without the railroad. Until the 1920's, all of the goods in the Davis Brothers General Store were delivered by rail. Before 1894, when the Southern Railroad was formed, the track through Croft was owned by the Atlantic, Tennessee & Ohio Railroad (A. T. & O.). The A.T. & O. Railroad became the spine along which commercial and industrial development occurred in northern Mecklenburg County during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
By 1896, a post office had been established at Croft, where S. W. and C. S. Davis would build their general store twelve years later. Silas Winslow Davis was an enterprising and resourceful man. He operated two other stores along the A. T. & O., one in Huntersville and another between Croft and Charlotte. Only the building at Croft, however, survives. The Croft District is, as a whole, representative of the time when Mecklenburg was still largely rural, and when a significant part of its economy was based on agriculture. During this time, country merchants, such as the Davis brothers, acted as suppliers, middlemen, and bankers to area farmers. In keeping with the patterns of life in rural North Carolina in the early years of this century, Saturday was the busiest day in Croft. Farmers would bring their cotton for ginning and for shipment on the railroad to markets near and far away. During the week, a boxcar filled with large bags of items such as sugar, flour and fertilizer
The S. W. & C. S. Davis Company General Store is remarkably well-preserved. The Davis Store stands on a hillside clearing several yards east of a railroad track. The store is built of red brick made from local clay dug on site. The interior is divided into the store proper and the warehouse room. Floor-to-ceiling shelves line the north and east walls of the store proper. The warehouse wing, a long narrow room, was originally used to store seed and flour. The upper story is an L-shaped balcony. The interior also contains objects of interest in the history of technology in Mecklenburg County: a 1922 cash register, still operating; an early Coca-Cola bottle-opener built into the newel post of the stairs; remnants of a box set into the wall which once contained the first telephone in the vicinity of Croft; parts of a primitive fire hydrant attached to the door jamb connecting the store proper with the warehouse; and a fire extinguisher of yet earlier date - a large wooden water bucket hanging on the wall. The adjacent storage cellars have periodically served as cattle slaughter rooms and as fatback larders - the cool earth penetrating the porous brick and acting as a natural refrigerator.
The store is currently operated by Silas Davis, grandson of co-founder S.W. Davis.
*Adapted from report by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission. - Oris may find their own plunge replica watches sale background back again so far as that was a lot of fun with regard to each diving as well as plunge watch style. The actual surge from the activity and is characters designed the equivalent surge within plunge gear, even though today’s plunge wrist watches tend to be mainly design add-ons, within the these were essential gear which held a person in existence for the following plunge. By having an light aluminum unidirectional plunge bezel, sapphire bubble very, a sizable overhead, along with a trim situation, the actual divers Sixty-Five 42mm has got the difficult purposeful appear of the plunge watch however sufficient eccentricity in order to stick out amongst your own informal tool scuba divers.
Croft and its general store would have never developed without the railroad. Until the 1920's, all of the goods in the Davis Brothers General Store were delivered by rail. Before 1894, when the Southern Railroad was formed, the track through Croft was owned by the Atlantic, Tennessee & Ohio Railroad (A. T. & O.). The A.T. & O. Railroad became the spine along which commercial and industrial development occurred in northern Mecklenburg County during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
By 1896, a post office had been established at Croft, where S. W. and C. S. Davis would build their general store twelve years later. Silas Winslow Davis was an enterprising and resourceful man. He operated two other stores along the A. T. & O., one in Huntersville and another between Croft and Charlotte. Only the building at Croft, however, survives. The Croft District is, as a whole, representative of the time when Mecklenburg was still largely rural, and when a significant part of its economy was based on agriculture. During this time, country merchants, such as the Davis brothers, acted as suppliers, middlemen, and bankers to area farmers. In keeping with the patterns of life in rural North Carolina in the early years of this century, Saturday was the busiest day in Croft. Farmers would bring their cotton for ginning and for shipment on the railroad to markets near and far away. During the week, a boxcar filled with large bags of items such as sugar, flour and fertilizer
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would have arrived on the siding in front of the Davis Brothers General Store. The farmers would load their wagons directly from the boxcar. Meanwhile, their wives and children would go inside the store, where they would find a vast array of goods and merchandise, including fabrics of many sorts, overalls, ribbons, lace, pins and needles. The post office was also in the store for many years. The Davis Brothers sold wagons, harnesses, shovels, rakes, hoes and other general farm supplies. Groceries were also available. One could buy canned fruits and vegetables, chewing tobacco, cigars, snuff and coffee. The brothers had a cotton gin to process bales for local farmers. Part of the cotton ginned by the Davis brothers was sold directly to area mills and cotton brokers, and could be distributed to these customers easily by train.The S. W. & C. S. Davis Company General Store is remarkably well-preserved. The Davis Store stands on a hillside clearing several yards east of a railroad track. The store is built of red brick made from local clay dug on site. The interior is divided into the store proper and the warehouse room. Floor-to-ceiling shelves line the north and east walls of the store proper. The warehouse wing, a long narrow room, was originally used to store seed and flour. The upper story is an L-shaped balcony. The interior also contains objects of interest in the history of technology in Mecklenburg County: a 1922 cash register, still operating; an early Coca-Cola bottle-opener built into the newel post of the stairs; remnants of a box set into the wall which once contained the first telephone in the vicinity of Croft; parts of a primitive fire hydrant attached to the door jamb connecting the store proper with the warehouse; and a fire extinguisher of yet earlier date - a large wooden water bucket hanging on the wall. The adjacent storage cellars have periodically served as cattle slaughter rooms and as fatback larders - the cool earth penetrating the porous brick and acting as a natural refrigerator.
The store is currently operated by Silas Davis, grandson of co-founder S.W. Davis.
*Adapted from report by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission. - Oris may find their own plunge replica watches sale background back again so far as that was a lot of fun with regard to each diving as well as plunge watch style. The actual surge from the activity and is characters designed the equivalent surge within plunge gear, even though today’s plunge wrist watches tend to be mainly design add-ons, within the these were essential gear which held a person in existence for the following plunge. By having an light aluminum unidirectional plunge bezel, sapphire bubble very, a sizable overhead, along with a trim situation, the actual divers Sixty-Five 42mm has got the difficult purposeful appear of the plunge watch however sufficient eccentricity in order to stick out amongst your own informal tool scuba divers.