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| This was Cossie Delk’s country store. Read on and I’ll tell you a little about it. In the background you can see an old smokehouse and part of a garage. (click to enlarge) All images made with a Fujifilm X-E5 |
Whenever I see an old abandoned building, house, factory, store or such, I find myself spending a little time thinking about what stories the old place could tell. Who lived in the old homestead? Was anyone born in the house? How many kids grew up there? What sort of games did they play in the yard? What kind of work did the father do? Did anyone die in the house? What memories still live today from someone who may have lived there? Why did they just abandon the property? Did they just walk away? Why was it left to just let time take its toll? As for businesses and factories, what was made in that factory? Who owned it? Was it family owned? How many generations worked there? How many people were employed there? You get my drift. Lots of question and, I’m sure, history. Because of these kinds of questions, I find myself stopping and photographing these old, abandoned places.
The building at the top was a very small country store last run by a Mr. Carson “Cossie” Delk. As an aside, not only did Cossie run the general store, he was the local school bus driver! The store is located at an intersection, among fields and forests, as most little country stores still sit today.
From a little research I did as well as a long conversation with the man who owns the building and lives next door, the building is now 101 years old as it was built by James Gwaltney in 1925. When the current owner bought the old store and the house, both were wired for 36 volts and powered by a generator (with glass backup batteries) that sat in a small building behind the store. The little generator building still stands as well but is not visible in the photo.
As with most country stores, this one was well stocked. One person compared it to a Walmart of sorts, offering everything from gasoline, clothing, hardware, ammunition for hunters and, of course, groceries. It also served as a meeting place, a place to exchange news and information for local farmers and a lifeline to buy food. Cossie pretty much stocked everything you would need for basic living at the time.
In this very place, on November 6, 1975, two armed and masked thugs entered the store and robbed Cossie and the business. Not only did they rob him, they beat him—pistol whipped as it was commonly called—severely. He never fully recovered from his injuries but he was determined to keep going. Finally, after 13 more years, he closed the store in 1987 and Cossie Delk passed away shortly afterward. A sad ending to a valuable community asset.
In earlier times there was a front porch, portico extending out to cover two gasoline pumps on a small island. All that is now gone but I appreciate not only what is left and what has stood the test of time over a century, but also the stories hidden within the walls of Cossie Delk’s country store. I found this photo of the store, date unknown, contained within a video about the store on the website of the Isle of Wight County, Virginia Museum. I made a screenshot of the photo, edited it slightly and am importing here for educational purposes. If interested, you can find the video here. By the way…Texaco gasoline.
And we move on…
I’d driven by this old house (below) many times and finally decided to stop and make a few images. Of course, questions arise in my mind about it.
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Yes, this old farmhouse is leaning to the left. I suspect in a few years it will just fall over, flatten—parallelogram style—during a strong storm. I positioned myself so that I was able to see straight through and out into the landscape behind. Who lived here? Why did they just walk away and leave this house standing? (click to enlarge) |
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| I made this black & white photo first, then made the one above. To me, monochrome serves this subject better. (click to enlarge) |
Down the road from the house above is another old abandoned farmhouse. Unlike the one above, this one sits way back off the road. I parked near the road and seeing no "No Trespassing" signs, I walked toward it and made a few exposures.
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| Baby blue shutters. I thought that unusual for a farmhouse. (click to enlarge) |
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| I think this is my favorite shot of the old farmhouse. A stately home when it was at its best, I’m sure. (click to enlarge) |
Again, what stories could be told? Soon, all three of these structures will be gone as will anyone who actually lived or worked in them. Then the only memory of them will remain through photographs.
For all three of these old places, I felt a combination of color and black & white would be the only way to view them properly. Agree?
Thanks for looking. Enjoy!
Dennis A. Mook
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