ALLEN ELLIS STORE

The property the store is on was purchased by Allen A. Ellis from W. J. and Ida L. Hughes in 1921. The structure was built in 1922 or 1923 for Ellis as a general store and post office, and was operated by him from 1923 to circa 1943, when he is said to have retired. His son, Tom, might have operated or co-operated it after 1943; he part inherited and part paid his mother and brother the property in 1947. Tom Ellis died in 1982 and his widow Lucille sold the property in 1995.

The lot was previously owned (prior to the Hughes’ ownership of the property) by Thomas C. Ellis (Allen’s father) and was described as one-quarter acre and as “the old Ellis store lot” in the 1921 deed. Thomas Ellis operated a store on the lot from at least 1871 until his death in 1892; the lot and store were advertised for sale by 1902. The Hughes’s owned the lot until Allen Ellis purchased it in 1921.

1946 (via The News of Orange)

07.23.2016 (G. Kueber)

The store building built by Allen A. Ellis in 1923 is an excellent example of a typical early 20th-century rural crossroads store building. This 2- story,3-bay-wide weatherboarded structure features a cornice supported by pairedbrackets below a flat roof. The symmetrical facade at the lower-level is lit by triple-grouped, 1/1 fixed windows flanking the central entrance, while 2/2 double-hung windows light the upper level. Entrance to the building is gained through a 3-door opening. Beyond the entry doors is a windowed vestibule and a set of interior entry doors. Both the front and the back porches have hipped roofs supported by square posts. Ellis operated both a general store and a post office hereafter the Patton Store building, located a few yards west, closed ca. 1923.

Receipt excerpt from 1916