McQuithy's store (Mr. Stanley's)

 

                                                       

McQuithy's country store in Bethel Ky. I can't remember the year it was when I took this photo, maybe around 2008-2010.

We always referred to the store as "Mr. Stanleys". Sadly the building is no longer standing.

I remember walking to the store to trade in pop bottles for small change so we could buy bubble gum or candy bars. If I close my eyes and take a trip down memory lane, I can still see just how the store looked inside. A funny side note: Mommy would send us to the store sometimes to get bread and bologna, and she would always ask us "who waited on you", and we would answer back, no one was waiting on us mommy". Our little minds didn't understand what she meant. 

Mr. Stanley used to tell my brother Dwayne, that he robbed a train, buried the money, spent some time in jail,  and that was how he got the money to buy the store. Well, we were never sure if he was just telling a story or if it was actually true.

Below is the little cinder block house we lived in just a short distance from the store on Hwy. 11 in Bethel, Kentucky.

I remember walking through the yards of Mrs. Dorothy Razor, Kenneth Rawlings and a few other houses on our trek to Mr. Stanley's. 

I lost a little rag doll once because a big dog started barking at me one time when I started out to the store by myself, I was so scared that I threw my doll down and ran as fast as I could.

                                      This little house is still standing and has been renovated.