This old store is well-known to visitors to the Cotton Pickin’ Fair. The main floor originally housed the farm office, general store, and post office. Groceries were sold in the basement and the top floor was Mr. Gay’s apartment.
J. R. Gay & Company, 1911, Gay
According to my mom, one of the buildings on that intersection–may have been the Commercial Block, but I think it was the Gay building–housed the telephone exchange for the community on the upper floor. You could call the woman who operated it and ask if she had seen so-and-so downtown recently because she looked out the window and kept tabs on everything.