The West Side
On Saturdays crowds of people would come
to town to do their shopping and to just stand around and
talk. The stores on the west side of the courthouse square
housed many of the popular businesses: two drug stores, the
post office, Farmers and Merchants Bank, two department
stores, and a hardware store. This side of the courthouse
square attracted the majority of the people. Wide sheds
covered the brick sidewalks in front of the stores with
wooden benches built between the outer supporting posts
providing resting places for weary feet.
When I was five or six we lived in the first house south of
the courthouse square with Mrs. Jenny Farrar and it was a
very short walk to town. It seemed that there were more
tobacco chewers and snuff dippers back then and they didn’t
mind spitting on the covered sidewalk. I always dreaded
going up town on Saturday,especially bare foot. It was
certainly a time for shoes, but if I were careful I could
skip, hop, and jump with only a few unpleasant slips and
slides.
Among the people there was a festive air with a lot of loud
talking and laughter. Although most were not wearing their
Sunday’s best, their dress was better than their everyday
attire. Those with automobiles parked out front under one
of the trees that lined the edge of the sidewalk. Mules
with wagons and horses with buggies were parked in the back
where hitching posts were available.
The courthouse provided the essential needs for the crowd:
restrooms, a telephone in the hallway, and a water fountain
on the south lawn. There were no other facilities like
these in town and they were in constant use.
With progress and changes through the years a special event
like going to town on Saturday is a thing of the
past.
*Picture from files of the Fayette County Historical
Society
(Picture before the time mentioned as can be told by size
of the trees)