I saw this picture on social media but I don’t know where to attribute it. But it’s a great one so here it is!
The country store in Gordonton, North Carolina.
Sunday afternoon, July 1939
Lazy Summer Day
old spirituals
madness, mystery, and magic at the turn of the century
old spirituals 
I can just hear the tall tales being spun by those men relaxing on the porch! That building looks as if it was there since the Civil War. I love the old advertisements and Texaco gas pump, too.
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Me too, Judy! Remembering growing up and sitting around listening to the older guys telling their tall tales… they got embellished over time!
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This photo intrigued me. Being candid, it mesmerized me for a time. I went on a search to find its origins and discovered this attribution:
“The original photo was taken in July of 1939 by Dorothea Lange, the famous photographer who shot those powerful pictures of the Dust Bowl during the Depression.”
That caused further digging that lead to finding a great “colorized” version of the photo at this site: http://waynesmeanderings.com
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This is Wonderful, Jax! I had no idea Dorothea Lange was the photographer. She had such a gift! I looked at the link and, scrolling down, the picture of the same gas station with the little girls. Beautiful shot!
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If you go to this site, you will see the building is considered historical and still stands on the same spot.
https://theforgottensouth.com/gordonton-nc-dorothea-lange-store-photo/
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Oh my goodness! I never thought for a second it might still be there! ! ! Wow!!
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Thank you, Jax, for the link to the story of that piece of Americana. It was wonderful! The “ghost” photo was a great idea and just takes you back to 1939.
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Agreed! It is Americana. Unfortunately, rural America is slowly disappearing.
It struck me that this photo is the Southern equivalent of the barber shop in my neighborhood when I was a kid and young adult. That shop was the Mecca for men to exchanges tales and gossip. The most dangerous thing a young man was exposed to was the hidden copy of the latest Playboy magazine and the adult beverage offered by the 3 barbers to their regular customers during the Holiday Season. My time in that barber shop instilled in me American values and commonsense. Like my father, most of these men were in the military during WWII and appreciated what it meant to be an American. Oh, and most were 1st generation sons of immigrants. The barber shop building is there today, except it is now one of a couple apartments.
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I love that story. I agree with you that so many places are disappearing. It’s distressing! But what are we building? We need to build really fine Americana—and preserve what we still have?
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