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.

Early Showboats

The old locomotives belching black smoke as they rumbled on the iron tracks, and the magical paddle wheelers with their calliopes that plied the rivers are two of my very favorites.

Early Show Boats On The Ohio

No one around today that would remember the days of the river show boats, the Golden Rod, the Cotton Blossom, those magnificent boats that piled the Ohio River from Pittsburgh and on down the Mississippi to New Orleans making a round trip each summer along about the turn of the century.

These large floating theaters were double deckers with the lower deck fitted out in the fashion of a theater. The upper deck housed the personnel and since they were not self propelled they required a tow boat which pushed them along the way from town to town. They were veritable floating places. The theater section would seat at least as many as two hundred people.

The personnel consisted of a full size brass band, a dozen or more chorus girls, acrobats, actors, animals trainer, etc. The brass band also doubled as an orchestra.

The show boat stopped at all the river towns along the way and provided entertainment such as might be seen in Louisville, Kentucky or the St. Louis vaudeville theaters.

The tow boat was equipped with a steam calliope whose melodious music could be heard for miles and heralded the coming of the boat long before the landing at each town. This gave the inhabitants an opportunity to rush down to the river bank and welcome the landing, the arrival being of great interest to the towns people. The calliope could also be heard over the country side and alerted the people that the show boat was in town.

It must be borne in mind that in those days there were no movie theaters, radios or televisions and automobiles had not arrived on the scene. People who traveled used the house and buggy, or walked and they didn’t stray far from home. So any unusual event attracted them.

The main attraction lasted for two or more hours and the audience was delighted. At the intermission the vendors sold peanuts, pop corn and strawberry pop.

As the years passed movie theaters, automobiles, radio and television provided people with various means of entertainment and the glory of the river show boats faded until they were only a shadow of what they had once been and finally they were no more. it is doubtful that it will ever return but it will be remembered by those who once upon a time appreciated it so much.

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In Nov. 1936 The Show Boat "Golden Rod", visited Dycusburg on the Cumberland River.  The Golden Rod, billed as the world's greatest Showboat played to a large audience at Dycusburg.  a complete Vaudeville program together with many other features were offered to the public.