Kelly Mill Mercantile Country Store Museum offers glimpse into the past

On Saturday, my daughter and I had the pleasure of being present for the formal dedication of the Kelly Mill Mercantile Country Store Museum at Dottelle, Alabama.

Located on Monroe County Road 37, between U.S. Highway 84 and State Highway 136, the museum had its grand opening on Saturday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Dozens of people were on hand for the dedication ceremony, which started at 10 a.m. and was led by the Rev. Kenneth Johnson, author Riley Nicholas Kelly and property owner Cecil Chandler.

To say that this newly opened museum is historically significant and important to the community would be putting it mildly. I’ve ridden, walked and jogged past this old store hundreds of times, and I was shocked by what I saw when I finally got a chance to step inside for the first time. Not only was the interior extremely impressive, but the museum also contains items that you won’t find on public display anywhere else in the county.

The central room of the store, which was constructed in the 1920s, was much larger than I had in mind and has been wonderfully preserved and restored by Chandler and others. You will be hard-pressed to find a building of this nature in similar condition.

The front of the building is decorated with vintage advertising signs, old benches and a railroad timetable that harkens back to the days when the now defunct railroad passed near the store. As hard as it is to imagine today, there was a time when you could hop on a train in “downtown Dottelle” and travel to the communities of Manistee, Mous, Monroe Station, Peterman, Kempville, Beatrice, Nadawah, McWilliams, Pineapple, Allenton, Snow Hill, Pleasant Hill and on to Selma.

Inside the museum, you’ll find a huge variety of vintage items, including old tools, farm equipment, radios, phonographs, pot-bellied stoves, display cases, desks, magazines, records, hand mills, cookery, old newspapers, an egg-tester as well as placards that explain their uses and applications. Also on display are numerous documents, letters and books concerning local history.

Chandler cleared up one mystery about the store that I’ve pondered many times. I’ve always wondered if there’d ever been a Masonic lodge on the building’s second floor, which was a common feature of stores of similar construction of that time. Chandler informed me that while there is plenty of room on the second floor, it never housed a Masonic lodge. The second floor is currently closed to visitors, but if you pass by the stairs that lead up to that sizable space, you’ll see a placard that explains that the second floor was used primarily as storage for the store’s once thriving casket business.

“The museum is dedicated to preserving our heritage for our children, grandchildren and I hope generations to come,” Chandler told The Monroe Journal last week.

Chandler is especially interested in opening the museum up to local fourth-grade Alabama History students. Teachers interested in scheduling a tour are encouraged to contact Chandler at 251-765-2532.

Personally, I enjoyed the chance to finally see the inside of this historic building, and it goes without saying that Chandler should be applauded for his efforts to restore the store and share it with the public. The museum offers visitors a snapshot of days gone by, and I highly recommend that you visit this local museum when you get the chance. You will not be disappointed.