Historic Dodgens store is donated to Hagood Mill Historic Site

Dedication ceremony is held Saturday, December 21 for historic Dodgens Store, donated to the Hagood Mill Historic Site by the Dodgens family

By Karen Brewer, Publisher & Editor

The historic original Dodgens Store, owned by Homer and Frances Dodgens, parents of Jimmy Lee Dodgens, was donated by the Dodgens family to the Hagood Mill Historic Site in Pickens. Jimmy Lee and Helen Dodgens also donated $5,000 to the Hagood Mill Foundation, and their son and daughters donated an additional $1,000. The dedication ceremony for the Dodgens Store was held the morning of Saturday, December 21, 2024. Pictured above are Hagood Mill Foundation Board member Ron Masters, Hagood Mill Historic Site Director Billy Crawford, Dodgens family members (Jimmy Lee Dodgens, Helen Dodgens, Jennifer Dodgens Gilstrap, Tim Gilstrap, Dawson Gilstrap, Jessie Lee Gilstrap, Missy Cantrell, and Jeff Cantrell), Hagood Mill Historic Site Assistant Director Kim Clevenger, and Hagood Mill Foundation Board member Betty McDaniel. (Photo by Karen Brewer, The Pickens County Chronicle)

The morning of Saturday, December 21, 2024 was a momentous occasion, as the historic Dodgens Store, which served the Nine Times community, was donated by the Jimmy Lee Dodgens family to the Hagood Mill Historic Site, along with a $6,000 donation from the Dodgens family to the Hagood Mill Foundation. The original store, owned and operated by Jimmy Lee Dodgens’ late parents, Homer and Frances Dodgens, beginning in the early 1950’s, is now preserved for present and future generations to visit and will also serve as an interpretive center to pay tribute to all general stores that served the communities throughout Pickens County.

The 11 a.m. dedication ceremony began with a welcome from Ron Masters, who serves on the Board of the Hagood Mill Foundation as well as on the Board of the Pickens County Historical Society. “Good morning, Pickens County. Thank you for coming this morning. On behalf of the Hagood Mill Historic Site and the Foundation Board of Directors, I welcome you and thank you for coming for this very important historical event. Our mission statement here at Hagood Mill talks about preserving history. We’re interested in preserving all of history: Native American history, early American history, and history at the turn of the century. And we will continue to look for ways to preserve Pickens County history. This store dedication is our latest endeavor, a country store — a country store that was so important to all of America. Across this land, country stores such as this meant a lot to the people.

“The Dodgens store came to us three miles from this location. It served the people of that community with necessary things to get by, day to day, without having to go to town. A trip into town was difficult. A country store like this dotted many intersections across our country and our county. And we are absolutely delighted to partner with the Dodgens family, for so much they’ve done.

“Today, you will hear a lot about what people have contributed. There have been a lot of people involved in putting this Dodgens store together. Later on, you will meet all these folks. But I would like to start out with bringing on some of elected and appointed officials to say a few words. These men have always been there for us. Whenever we ask for help, these men will come forward and help us.”

Ron Masters speaks at the beginning of the Dodgens Store dedication ceremony at the Hagood Mill Historic Site on Saturday, December 21, 2024. (Photos by Karen Brewer, The Pickens County Chronicle)

Masters first introduced Pickens County Administrator Ken Roper. “Thank y’all for letting me speak for just a moment,” Roper said. “I’ll tell you that this is such a wonderful day. I appreciate the Dodgens family and what y’all mean to this community, long back before today. But this is such an important time. One thing that I have quoted through the years is something I read somewhere: ‘The stories we tell each other about ourselves become true over time, for good or for ill.’ The Hagood Mill has always done such a good job of telling that story, and part of the story is shown here. The past is important. Our heritage is important. Our families that have formed the backbone of this community, they are important. I’m glad to be here, and I want to tell you, on behalf of Pickens County, thank you to the Hagood Mill Foundation, thank you to the Dodgens family. This is going to be part of that story that we tell each other now for generations. And that’s a wonderful thing. So, thank y’all.”

Pickens County Administrator Ken Roper speaks at the Dodgens Store dedication ceremony. (Photos by Karen Brewer, The Pickens County Chronicle)

“Thank you, Ken,” said Masters. “And now, Representative Davey Hiott is certainly a friend of the Hagood Mill. Davey, would you step forward, please.”

“Thank you, Ron,” said Hiott. “Good morning. It’s good to see all of y’all here today. And, again, I join others who say thank you for all that you do out here. This is a pride and joy of mine. As I travel the state of South Carolina, quite a bit, I tell people about Pickens County, and, when I talk about Pickens County, I always bring up Hagood Mill, because this is something that we can all be proud of. This is something that we can all take part in. This is something that is offered to every one of us. And this is just another piece of the puzzle. This is a puzzle out here at Hagood Mill, and this is just another piece of the puzzle that makes it what it is, a unique place. And we thank you very much. As I travel across South Carolina, many times, as I go to small towns, I’ll always ask the people, ‘Where is your local little general store?’ And a lot of towns don’t have one, but some do. And, if they do, I go in it. I like to go in some small town somewhere and go to their little country store, and I try to buy something, if I can, even if it’s a bottle of Coke. You can’t buy a little bottle of Coke much anymore. But that’s always something I enjoy doing, just so I can remember that’s a part of their heritage. And that’s what this does today. So, Dodgens family, thank y’all for believing in this place here. Thank you for giving this place to Hagood Mill. Thank you for being a vital part of Pickens County. Thank you to every volunteer that works for the Hagood Mill. We thank you, not only for the third Saturday of every month, but for every day that you’re here. Again, thank you, and I’m happy to be here, and I’m excited about what’s going on today. So, thank you.”

State Representative Davey Hiott, of Pickens, speaks at the Dodgens Store dedication ceremony. (Photos by Karen Brewer, The Pickens County Chronicle)

“Thank you, Davey,” said Masters. “And now to a man that’s never said no to us, that’s always been supportive of this site, Senator Rex Rice.”

“Thank you,” said Rice. “I appreciate it. I thank everybody for coming out this morning. Thank you for the Dodgenses for what they’ve done to make this happen and not only this but everything they have done for Pickens County. Like Davey was saying, Hagood Mill is a great place for us to come to, and it brings us back in history, brings us way back in history. One of the cabins up here, the Hollingsworth cabin, I’m told that my great, great grandfather actually lived in that cabin at one time.

“But I appreciate what y’all have done.” He spoke of how little country stores have been replaced by chain store locations out in the country. “And that doesn’t do the same as the little country stores like this,” he said. “This is a great project. I’m just so happy to see it here. And I thank everybody for coming out this morning, thank everybody that helped make it happen, thank the Dodgenses again for everything they’ve done. Over the years, y’all have been such participators in the community to keep the community what it is, and that’s important. So, thank you.”

State Senator Rex Rice, from Pickens County, speaks at the Dodgens Store dedication ceremony. (Photos by Karen Brewer, The Pickens County Chronicle)

“Thank you, Senator,” said Masters, and then he asked who in the crowd has had the pleasure, as he has had, to go in a little country store. “I’m from York County, and I have some fond memories of stores such as this,” he said, buying RC cola, moon pies, and other food items. “Do you remember that? It certainly is a wonderful, warm feeling.

“There were a lot of people involved in putting this together,” Masters continued. “Lots of volunteers. At this time, I’m going to bring our Director, Billy Crawford, for recognition to those people.”

“Thank you, Ron,” said Crawford, the Hagood Mill Historic Site Director. “Bless all the people here today. Thank you for coming out and spending a little time with us at Hagood Mill for such a grand occasion. Again, these little country stores have all but faded away. I remember when I was a kid, walking into these — the creaking of the floor, the smell of the building, being offered a piece of bubble gum from the attendant in the store, or spending something and winning something out of the bubble gum machine. There are so many things. This has brought the past back to me.

“These things are important. This keeps our past alive. With today’s expanding society, all these types of things are being left by the wayside and being torn down for what we call progress. But we are so thankful to be able to have this small store. There was a bigger store that was built after this, but this was the original small store that served their community, that served the loggers, the timber business. You can imagine them, back in the day, with their trucks loaded down with wood and timber and lumber, heading out to the sawmills.” Loggers would stop in, he said, for food or candy, or men going fishing at Little Eastatoee might stop in “getting hooks, sinkers, and you’ve got to have golden niblets corn. Just think about how many people this served and how much it made their lives easier during the daytime, when they were up there working in the area, and then again as it expanded to serve the entire community.

“This is one store of many in this area that are beloved and being forgotten or torn down. What we have today, if we’re lucky, is some archived photos or someone’s stories, so I would encourage you to share those stories and those memories of old time stores I remember from when I was a kid. So, if you’ve got a story to share with the younger folks or something you can share, either in a video or audio or recording, those things are important. Our library has an archive room that would keep that on file for people to come in. So, if you’re interested in doing something like that, it’s called a story corps. Those things could be for posterity, would be on file, where people could go and hear your stories about the country store, along with photos. And, again, this is just part of many things that we want to do with this building. We do intend to honor the other country stores that were in this area, because they played a vital role within our community. So, we do intend to put up pictures and things like that. This is an interpretive center, if you will, for a small country store. So, we want to honor this store, for sure, and also the ones that were out around the community that served other folks around Pickens County.

“With that said, I do want to thank several folks here.” It all began, Crawford said, when Ron Masters said that he wanted to have a country store at the mill site. When the subject was brought up at a board meeting, Board member Betty McDaniel thought of an idea, and, soon after, she said that she had talked with Jimmy Lee and Helen Dodgens and that they were willing to donate this store. That’s how quickly things happen, Crawford said, “and how dedicated these folks are. If we decide that it’s something important that we want to do, we’re out there chasing that and making it happen.

“We want to start out by thanking again Jimmy Lee, Helen, and their family, that are all here with us today. These folks are parting with a part of their history, but they’re bringing it to us to be good stewards of a part of their past, and part of their past will be part of our future. So, we really want to thank Jimmy Lee and Helen Dodgens and the family for donating this to us today.

“How did this store get here? It was pretty wild. Some of the flooring was not in the best shape, so we had to do subflooring. We want to thank Shannon Haskett, who runs Legacy Sheds in Pickens. He didn’t have to do that, but he stepped up and offered to help us. He moved the store out here for us.

“Once we got it here, Jonathan Green, one of our woodworking demonstrators and volunteers at the mill, and Kevin Thompson, who is our resident blacksmith, came out and started doing the porches and getting the foundation stuff, along with Jeff Beckwith. They were working on the structure and getting things sound, where we could walk into it, and getting it leveled, where the doors would open up. We just want to thank them for coming along and getting it situated. They put a new porch on it, with these nice new heavy-duty posts.

“Dave Lindsay and his wife did the front steps with the rocks that we had here on site. So, we want to thank them.

“And Jeff Beckwith has done a lot. Jeff helped with the structural. He helped with getting the interior in shape, the shelving. And he painted this thing pretty much by himself. He and his wife, Ginger, have spent many hours out here, removing some beadboard, adding, replacing, just making interior repairs to the structure inside, and painting. So, we really want to thank them for sure.

“We do want to thank my brother, Barry Crawford, and my parents. My brother donated some stuff to go inside. My parents were decorating in here, whatever needed, and donation of some items that we’ll put on display inside there.

“I also want to thank Hugh Smith, who is our camp host. He is a jack of all trades. He does everything for us out here. I just want to thank Hugh for everything that he has done to assist with all these many projects.

“I really want to thank Ron Masters, again for he was the driving force behind this, keeping this in our vision, keeping this on our radar, making sure that we were moving forward and getting this done. So, he was the driving force to put us here today.

“I want to thank Pickens County again, for allowing us to move this structure out to their property and put it on display as an important interpretive piece of Pickens County history.

“I do want to thank our dignitaries again. These guys are always in support of us. They’re helping us financially, morally within the community. So I just really want to thank you guys for sticking with us and seeing our vision, helping us meet our vision that we have for the historic site. And that includes adding new exhibits from time to time. So, I really want to thank you again.

“If I’ve forgotten anybody, my apologies. But thank you for being here.

“Once we’re finished, we’re going to be going inside the store. Just think back. Share those stories again with others whenever you get a chance. Let us know. We can video it. We can audio it. Those are important pieces of history that we need to keep alive for the next generation. Thank you for being here today.”

Hagood Mill Historic Site Director Billy Crawford speaks at the Dodgens Store dedication ceremony. (Photos by Karen Brewer, The Pickens County Chronicle)

Masters thanked Crawford and then introduced Helen Dodgens, who shared memories of her mother-in-law, starting when Helen and Jimmy Lee married in October of 1966, when she was 15 and he was 21. “When Jimmy Lee would go to work, I would go down to the store and work with her,” she said. “So, she taught me a lot of lessons in doing business, and I was able to open my own business in downtown Pickens with a Singer sewing machine dealership. She did teach me a lot of lessons about business.

“She was a good mother-in-law. I loved her. She taught me a lot of lessons about standing up for myself. And it was hard to take, to lose her, but I lost my mother, too. No words can really describe her. I loved her. Thank you for being here today.”

Helen Dodgens speaks at the Dodgens Store dedication ceremony. (Photos by Karen Brewer, The Pickens County Chronicle)

“Thank you, Helen,” said Masters. “Thank you, so much. And, now, we’re going to hear from Homer’s son, Jimmy Lee Dodgens.”

“Good morning, everybody,” greeted Dodgens, the only child of Homer and Frances Reece Dodgens. “First, I want to welcome everybody to the original Dodgens Grocery. My father was injured in a logging accident in the 1940’s. I never remembered him being able to put his shoes on or put his clothes on. He had to wear a back brace. I never remembered him being able to do anything. We had no running water, and no electricity until 1950, when Blue Ridge Electric installed power to our home. I attended Hampton School, and I attended Twelve Mile Elementary School, and then we went to Holly Springs in 1954. I finally got to ride a school bus.

My mother and daddy had a dry-cleaning route and sold candy and flour to make a living.” They always had a garden, he said, and his mother canned items they grew on the farm, and she made butter from the milk from their cow. “We had no paved roads in the Nine Times community, but we always seemed to get around just fine.

“My parents saved approximately $128 to start their own business. The small amount of money was used to buy items from Morris and Company Wholesale in Pickens. Earl Morris, Sr. was very helpful in helping us with our list. But, first, he said, you’ve got to have a sales tax license. The best I remember, that was $5.” After they filled out the paperwork and received a sales tax license, Morris gave them groceries to sell in the store to the sawmill workers and others who lived in the Nine Times community.

“The building we’re dedicating today was on the ground. It was setting flat down on the ground, and we had to raise it to get it level. My Daddy was not able to do anything. How were we going to level this building? We had no help.” He explained how he and his father leveled the building by Jimmy Lee, a small child, getting cinder blocks and his father sitting on the end of a long piece of timber, pressing it down, and Jimmy Lee putting a block under the building. “It took us a long time.

“After we got it level, then we started putting our grocery items in the little building. The customers wanted cold drinks. We had no electricity. We had the drinks at the house in a refrigerator. We had electricity at the house, which we got in 1950. So, I would have to go from the store to the house to get everybody a cold drink. I ran out and back, toting drinks to that store.

“Times were hard back then. The years went by, and we grew out of this small building. We went into a big building which you see a picture of it here now. But it was just the center of it. We kept building on and building on and building on, a section at a time when we got more money.”

Judge Singleton put a gas pump in for them at their store, and they sold Shell gasoline and oil for more than 35 years, he said. In the store, they sold barbed wire, clothes, hardware, and anything else needed.

His father passed away in 1963, from a massive heart attack, he said, and Jimmy Lee and his mother ran the store. “In 1966, I married the love of my life, Helen. She was a homemaker. She worked beside us in the store. And I worked for Pickens County, and I stayed there probably 10, 12 years.”

Dodgens said that they have been blessed with an amazing, beautiful family, three children and five grandchildren. Their daughter Melissa ‘Missy’ is married to Jeff Cantrell. Their daughter Jennifer is married to Tim Gilstrap. Their son, Jimmy Lee, II, is married to Shelby Goold, and they and their children live in Texas.

“In 1990, we officially closed the store,” he said. “People had good jobs then, and they didn’t need the small country stores.” Larger grocery stores, he said, forced country stores out of business.

“I just want to thank all of you for coming today. Thank you very much.”

Jimmy Lee Dodgens speaks at the Dodgens Store dedication ceremony. (Photos by Karen Brewer, The Pickens County Chronicle)

Masters thanked Dodgens and then asked for any Hagood Mill Foundation Board members and Hagood Mill staff who were present to join them. Crawford asked for all of the Dodgens family to come up on the porch of the building, as well.

“So, not only do we have the general store donated to us,” said Crawford, “the family has so kindly donated $5,000 to the Hagood Mill Foundation to help erect this, move this store, and to keep it up and help it be a sustaining part of Hagood Mill interpretive programming. So, they have kindly given this. And I just got a check here, too, from the daughters and the son, an additional $1,000 check. So, that is a total $6,000 donation to the Hagood Mill Historic Site, the Hagood Mill Foundation, and, my goodness, we are blessed beyond words to be able to receive this, and we just really want to thank you. Jimmy Lee comes down here all the time and gets his corn meal from us, and I am happy that they have offered us a part of their past and to help us keep going with our future here. I just want to thank you. Thank you so much. We will be good stewards of this and put it to good use and use it wisely for the community and for education and all the things that we are all about here, serving our mission at Hagood Mill under the Hagood Mill Foundation. Thank you, Dodgens family.”

“Thank you, once again, Dodgens family,” said Masters.

“And thank you, Pickens County citizens, for coming out,” he added. “Thank you for your support. Don’t forget. We have something here called Friends of the Mill. And that is a way that you can continue to support us, by being Friends of the Mill. And I would advise you to inquire to Kim about how to become Friends of the Mill.

“After we dedicate this store, you may come in and look around and enjoy Americana at its best, Pickens County history at its best.”

Masters then asked Hagood Mill Historic Site Assistant Director Kim Clevenger to officially dedicate the store.

The ceremony concluded with Masters inviting everyone to the Hagood Mill Visitor Center for refreshments.

Hagood Mill Historic Site Assistant Director Kim Clevenger officially dedicates and opens the Dodgens Store, with Dodgens family members and Ron Masters, Billy Crawford, and Betty McDaniel joining her on the store's porch. (Photos by Karen Brewer, The Pickens County Chronicle)

“I’m just so glad they restored it,” Jennifer Dodgens Gilstrap told The Pickens County Chronicle while in the original store following the dedication ceremony. She grew up knowing the later store, which closed in 1990. “I grew up with the new building,” she said. “I learned how to tie my shoes there. I learned Jacob’s Ladder. I learned how to sing. They taught me a lot, sitting on that counter in that store. I’ve got a lot of good memories there. The other store building was what was there when Missy and I were younger. We made mud pies in the store yard, and we practically grew up there. The back section of that store was the home place, and they lived there. We ate biscuits and cornbread, and we ate molasses and toast and lots of cornflakes and sweet potatoes. I remember Grandma cooking sweet potatoes. But it was really neat to go in the store building after it closed and just collect items. We have some things at the house, that I just couldn’t part with, that I still have.” (Photo by Karen Brewer, The Pickens County Chronicle)