Poppa's Store and The Pilot House

 

Country Convenience Store Poppa’s - 1995

In June 1995 Lucky Easley was building a convenience store on Highway 91 North about 3 miles from the Ohio River and the ferry.

The Hebron native, said the communities near the river have needed something down here, but until now there have not been enough people to support one. But with the ferry traffic, he got the idea to built the store.

The exterior of the 2,000 square feet store will be modeled after the old-fashioned stores pictured on Coca Cola memorabilia.

The front of the store will be built with Cyprus wood, and we’ll have an old gas pump out front for looks,. It will be a novelty item, a conversation piece.

Store hours will be comparable to the ferry’s hours, which are currently 6 a.m. – 10 p.m. Aside from gasoline, Easley said the store will be equipped with a hot/cold deli as well as the usual convenience store products.

The store’s success will be based on the number of travelers who commute to and from work on Ky. 91. It will pull people from Illinois and we hope it will draw from people in the surrounding communities.

Easley hopes Illinois higher prices for gasoline and cigarettes will keep northerners stopping to fill up at the store. Current prices on cigarettes in Cave-in-Rock are about $1.55 for generics and $2 for brand names, approximately 50 cents higher than in Marion. Regular unleaded gasoline sells for $1.15 a gallon at one Cave-in-Rock station, compared to $1.03 stations in Marion.

It was wonderful to have this store/eating place. Besides being a great place for the Illinois folks to stop and get gas and other items before returning home across the river, it became a favorite gathering place for many of the families that lived in the Hebron area and many came in from Tolu. It was also nice for the people that lived in the area to be able to buy gas without having to drive to Marion.

The deli case was filled with all kind of deli meats to make fresh sandwiches. Many of the local farmers would come in and have lunch and visit awhile before returning to the fields.

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Some years later the store was sold to J. T. May and it was re-named The Pilot House. His son David ran the store with help from some of the family. Some days you would find Jerilyn May, his Aunt behind the meat counter and his Dad, J. T., behind the grill frying up fried potatoes for the breakfast crowd.

There would be fried fish sometimes for Friday or Saturday night dinner with local families eating and visiting with neighbors and friends. These were special times, once again where neighbors got together and enjoyed time together.

I don’t remember when the store was closed, or who purchased it next, but it was a lose for the community and was missed not only by the locals but the Illinois people also.

The once beautiful store building sets empty today, I hear in really bad shape on the inside from water damage and just the usual deterioration for sitting empty for so many years.