More than just a country store: Wagner's Grocery, 1870 community hub, gets new life in Mississippi

Editor's Note: This is the second in an occasional series of small-town destinations in Mississippi.

To most people, it likely appears to be just another old, abandoned building tucked away in rural Mississippi. The only paint remaining on it is under the protection of the front porch and the rusty signs out front are long past the days when they were bright and shiny.

But the old wooden building was once the hub of a small community outside Natchez and board by board, Wagner's Grocery in Church Hill is being restored by the Historic Natchez Foundation to much how it would have looked 150 years ago.

"It's all pine," said Lee Blanton of R. L. Blanton Construction as he spoke over the sound of a generator that was providing power for tools. "Back in the day it was all tight-grained, slow-growth pine."

Blanton and his crew were removing wooden walls and replacing them with new lumber. In keeping with the original construction, the boards aren't smooth and bright and didn't come from a home improvement store.

Rebuilding a store that served the wealthy near Natchez

"We actually had trouble finding pine that was not kiln-dried," Blanton said. "We finally found a company out of Mobile that would sell it to us wet and we air-dried it for about six months."

The boards are meant to reflect the originals all the way down to how they were cut.

"It's circular cut," Blanton said. "Most mills now use band saws, so we had to find a mill that used circular saws."

Church Hill was once a small plantation community about 20 miles outside of Natchez. According to Carter Burns, executive director of Historic Natchez Foundation, it was one of many that developed in the 19th Century and helped fuel the economic engine with agriculture; namely cotton.

The landscape was dotted, and still is, with stately homes bearing names like The Cedars, Wyolah and Lagonia.

"In the 19th Century, there was a lot of wealth in these communities even though they were outside of town," Burns said.

At the heart of these communities were stores like Wagner's Grocery.

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Wagner's Grocery, the heart of Church Hill, in disrepair

"The store was built around 1870," Burns said. "It's one of, if not the oldest country store in the state.

"It was a general store. It was also the post office. It was the community gathering place where people came to get the news. Most of these plantations, the owners lived on. It would have taken half a day or more to go into town. That's why they needed places like this to buy supplies instead of going into town."

The store was in operation until it closed in the 1990s. Walking in, the condition looks about the same as the outside. Wooden floors are covered in dust and debris and there are holes where boards have given way to time.

Items like golf clubs, old coffee carafes and deer antlers are strewn about. A safe and cash registers are testaments to it once being a functioning business.

"A lot of feet have crossed these floors," Blanton said as he walked through.

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A country store that was the hub of the community

And some of the names and faces of those who passed through are still there. To the left of the counter where mail and money would have changed hands is a piece of plywood that served as a bulletin board, which served a purpose in its time much like social media today.

Business cards detailing services offered are tacked to it along with faded photos of hunters with deer they harvested.

"It was the hub of the community," Burns said.

George Bates, who has lived in the community almost all of his life, said the grocery was a place that brought people together.

"I visited that store and my family shopped at that store for many, many years," Bates said. "People would hang out there and it was just a gathering place.

"Your friends were there and your neighbors were there. It was a place where people became closer together in the community. Once it's completed, we hope that in a different way it will be the hub of the community again."

And that may happen, but it will take time.

Wagner's Grocery to become museum and meeting place

Burns said the current phase of restoration includes exterior wall and roof work. The next phase will focus on the interior.

When complete, Burns said the building will serve as a venue for family gatherings and other social functions. It will also be a museum where visitors can learn about the area.

"With all the activity that's going on out here now, it will raise the stature of these communities," Burns said. "They're worthy of having visitors as well. There's a lot of interesting history and sights to see in these places."

However, completion of the project depends on money.

"It will be several years because we need to get funds to do the interior," Burns said.

Do you have a story idea? Contact Brian Broom at 601-961-7225 or [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Country store, possibly oldest in MS, gets new lease on life