If you watched my interview with Josh Griggs, you’ll likely remember him. Not only is Josh a dear family friend, he is a real character who is bound to stick in your mind once you know him—even in a virtual manner.
Last week Josh called to see if we’d be interested in visiting his wife’s grandfather’s old store before the family begins the ardous task of selling the contents of the huge building.
Since we adore old things we jumped at the chance.
Jack Raper was a longtime collector of old artifacts. Pretty much anything you can think of he gathered it into his massive collection. As you might guess, he did focus on antique items from this area of Appalachia. Think canning jars, farm implements, and Cherokee Indian items.
His daughter Gail (Josh’s mother-n-law) told me she had fond memories of traveling to Florida to sell things with her parents at various markets.
In addition to the store we visited, at one time Jack had a store in Cherokee NC.
The day we visited the wondrous collection was the first anniversary of his death. Jack was 96 years old when he died.
In the last years of Jack’s life he wasn’t able to keep the store as clean and organized as he had previously and since it was unoccupied most of the time it became a target of local thieves.
After battling the ongoing thefts and damage to the building, the family has decided they need to sell the contents.
There are so many things in the building that it’s impossible to take it all in. I made at least four trips through the narrow aisles and I’m positive I could make ten more and not notice everything that’s there.
The girls have a published a video about the trip. You can go here to see the building first hand, to hear Josh tell Jack’s story, and to see the goodies we brought home.
The store will be open to the general public on July 1 and 2, 2022 beginning at 8:00 a.m. Josh said they will stay as long as folks are interested in looking. The location is in the Hiwassee Dam section of Cherokee County. It is about five minutes from Hiwassee Dam School on the right side of the road if you’re headed towards Tennessee. Here is the actual address: 12822 NC-294 Murphy, NC 28906.
A few tips for anyone who decides to go.
- There is limited cell service in the Hiwassee Dam area.
- Purchases are CASH only.
- The building is unbelievably crowded and cramped so you need to be able to weave and step over things without falling.
- The building is very dark so you need a good flashlight to see well.
- There are no restrooms available.
- No water or food is available.
- The building doesn’t have airconditioning so it is very hot.
- If you go please tell them Tipper sent you 🙂
We had the best time prowling around the old building. I could just imagine the places Jack found the things he collected and especially enjoyed thinking about the people who once owned them.
I loved all of the items I purchased. The half gallon canning jars I got will be so handy as will a couple of wooden totes I picked up. But my favorite item is an old wooden bench.
It was sitting outside along the side of the building behind some farming implements. I didn’t notice it until we were about to leave. I knew it was likely damaged from sitting in the weather, but asked The Deer Hunter to pull it out and see how bad it was.
The bench is surprisingly still sturdy except for the rockers that are on the bottom. Since they’ve been sitting on the ground the wood has begin to rot on both of them. The Deer Hunter said replacing the runners would be an easy fix and he thought it was worth the price so we brought it home.
I was busy getting things unloaded and didn’t realize he carried the bench to the backyard instead of in the basement.
After we had put everything away and were settling in for the night he asked me if I wanted to go see the bench. I thought he said do you want to go look at the beans and I thought well no not really since I seen them earlier today 🙂 When he noticed my hesitation he said “I just thought you’d want to see it sitting in the yard.”
Once I seen the old bench sitting under the apple tree I practically started jumping up and down I was so pleased. He’s going to replace the runners, although we will use flat runners instead of rockers. The Deer Hunter will also weather proof the wood.
I believe the bench will make the perfect place to sit and enjoy the beauty of Appalachia.
Subscribe for FREE and get a daily dose of Appalachia in your inbox
Hey there,
We are new viewers and just saw your daughter’s video about this antique shop. We live near Asheville and want to come shop. Do you happen to know if this place is still open? Thank you!
Dawn-It is not open on a regular basis. I’m guessing they might open again during the summer months. If we hear that they will be open we will try to let folks know here on the blog and on YouTube 🙂
Oh how I wish I could go treasure hunting there! Going to yard sales, thrift shops and antique and collectable stores are one of my favorite things to do and I have found quite a few treasures going to them! Your bench looks perfect under the apple tree! A true treasure!
How lovely to be able to gather souvenirs of a special man and a special place in Appalachia, and to be able to bring them with your family into the future. How nice for Jack’s family, too, to know they will be treasured!
Boy that’s my kind of sale! I love prowling through places like that. I hope to see you and Matt eating popsicles on that bench soon.
I’m about 900 crow-fly miles from Hiwassee Dam. If I left right now I might could make it to the sale but I’m feeding horses for a friend until he gets back on the 4th.
I’d love to prowl that place. I think I’d have bought all the half-gallon Mason jars in the place.
The bench, especially, brings back so many memories for me. My aunt had one identical to this sitting under a tree in her front yard in eastern Kentucky years ago. She lived on Little Mud Creek, Floyd Co., Kentucky. That’s where we lived also until my parents left in desperate times so my dad could have a job so he to care for the family. There is actually a picture taken of me, my mommy and aunt sitting in that bench. That was many years ago. I imagine I was around 5 years old at the time. I am now 65. Actually, Tipper, you were very close to the area when you attended the awards ceremony at the Mountain Arts Center. I was born in Prestonsburg, Kentucky.
Oh how I wish I could go prowling through!
I love this picture! That’s the perfect place for that bench. I enjoyed watching the video so much. I loved the mason jars, especially the cobalt blue one Corie got. I don’t think I ever have seen one that color. Loved the tin that Katie bought. Those three little mini mugs or cups were so cute! I love old things also but just don’t have the space for them. Rolling pins amaze me because of the history behind them like who may have had one and what they were preparing. Tipper, I wonder if there were any old cookbooks there. That’s something I also love. Wish I was closer, I would love to go. Thanks for sharing this and have a wonderful day everyone!
Great finds, Tipper, and I enjoyed the visit to the store!
I love the flour bin cupboard trimmed in light green paint. It reminds me of my mamaw Drinnon. She had a white and red one. And flour bin she quit putting flour in it. She kept, box of crackers and Graham crackers in. My mom has one down her basement. I don’t think it has a flour bin in it. But up stairs in kitchen I believe is mamaw’s. I love the blue Balls jars. I love the rocker bench you got. My mamaw Seal had one. I do love Antiques. And the stories behind them. Thanks for sharing this. I have enjoyed it!
I suppress my need to do two posts constantly, and this is one of those instances when I just have to “do it or die.” Another look at your photo reveals that old chamber pot, which was seen often in days gone by. When I first got into interesting groups on FB, there were many half hearted attempts at what now they refer to as “homesteading.” One Admin was a young wife and would be farmer, and she was proudly showing off a photo of a purchase her hubby had made at an old estate sale. It was a photo of a chamber pot, and she had written “would make a great water bath canner.” I should have done the right thing and maybe messaged her, but instead shared the amusement for days with family. Young people have much to learn, but some of us “old dogs” need to do more teaching and less ‘making fun.”
I loved seeing the video–I think I could have spent several days looking. My favorite was the decorated tin–it was just beautiful. All those beautiful jars too! They are hard to resist, especially the bigger ones & that cobalt one was gorgeous. I hope they will have a wonderful sale and people will love & preserve the things they buy.
In the above picture I noticed several things I remember from my grandparents, the colored canning jars, rolling pins, the lanterns maybe (Dietz) and the white bucket that might be a slop jar. To some folks a chamber pot. The lanterns caught my eye. Me and now my son have collected and restored the pressurized lanterns such as lanterns Coleman for the last 20 years. Now we have almost stopped. The difference between Dietz and the Coleman type is the Dietz are wick lantern and the Coleman have air pressure and mantles and burn a lot brighter. After buying and restoring a lantern bought At an antique store on Hwy 19 near Burnsville, NC I got interested in this collecting. I never knew Coleman had made so many different models. If anyone has a Coleman lantern and wonders how old it is, look on bottom of the fuel tank and it will have the date, left side number is month and right side is year. If they have name stamped in the tank look under name. Some of the very early ones will have letters instead of a month number. They will be A,B or very few C or D. It is thought that the letters are for the 4 quarters of the year. Look under fuel tank tab on the Coleman 2 and 3 burner stoves.
I once went to the an auction at a very old country general store from the early 1900’s. I had always thought it was just an old empty country store. It was full of new antique items from that area. A lot of farm items that would have been used with mules and an almost new oak wood ice box with glass doors and some household items. I have watched part of video, intend to watch the rest later.
Really enjoyed the video. So many treasures! I love old things too. The bench will serve you well for a long time. I can see you and Matt sitting there enjoying some rest. He is so sweet to put it under the tree as a surprise. Take care and God bless
I have plans for July 1st and 2nd or I know where I’d be!
Now, I could only wish to go there and look through all those interesting items. I have spent many hours fighting cobwebs and looking through old items from yesteryear.
There is nothing quite like a little bench waiting there for us when we are tired from the day’s work. I also love an old wooden picnic table. These both are so welcoming. My dad had several mountain acres where we would sometimes take a 4W drive to explore. Other days we would walk around with him picking up chestnuts or chinquapins. About halfway between an old and abandoned house and home he had placed a little homemade bench. It was there we could leave all the cares of the world behind and talk about nothing in particular. Everybody needs one of those little benches, and you and Matt will enjoy for years to come. A great place to sit and do your videos.
A bench under an apple tree sounds just like that simple life you wanted yesterday. Just the words alone conjure up a farmstead and a homeplace. Plus it already has its store of memories to start with; the store and the day and the company. It has more in the offing with the Deer Hunter’s fixing and all the many others to be made there, whether alone or with somebody.
Well of course thieves came! It’s what they do- steal from the dead or anybody else they think they can get one over on…. THEYD have felt awfully funny if Josh would’ve been hiding in the dark with his loaded shot gun, which I would’ve been tempted to do. You can try, but this old lady most likely will trap and out think a dirty rotten doping thief!!! On the other hand, I’m so glad you’re able to find a few items of antiquity that will be of value to you and your husband. I think the idea of sitting together under the Apple tree sounds so warm and inviting. I can see you both talking and enjoying perhaps a picnic there. As you know, I’m into glass so I’m sure I’d see a thing or two to peak my interest… happy hunting all!
Oh how I wish I still lived in Blue Ridge…I would be there, take refreshments to eat and drink while visiting as I am sure a few hours just wouldn’t do….thanks your videos and blogs are my first to see of the day.
Good pic! I’d like to have the painting of the Union soldier that was on the video if I lived closer.
One wonders if the museum at the Gettysburg battlefield park would like to have that photo.
How wonderful to preserve the bench and enjoy resting on it while gardening, eating a frozen popsicle! I envy your
purchase of the canning jars but I know you’ll put them to great use. Wish I could make the trip from Concord, NC.
So loved the video that the girls made with all those treasures at the antique store. No doubt you will tell many stories from sitting on that bench. Always enjoy your videos. Thank you for sharing.
Nice collection of many practical items. Love those blue tinted canning jars, bird houses, and beautiful end table lamps with good matching shades. A real peace of Americana.
I see about 5 things right from you photos that i would buy immediately! Alas, its too far of a trip from NY. I love ‘junk’ shopping & wandering around just looking. I’d also like garage saleing, except it seems that the ‘seller’ always wants to talk your dang ear off while you’re trying to look! For some folks I think thats the whole point of having the sale in the 1st place – telling you all about everything they have. But I just want to mill about….Did stop at one recently and got a yellowstone pie plate and a cute little enamel covered roasting pan, just the right size for a chicken. I love me some enamelware! I wanted a huge rolling pin & the fella told me a dollar, then his father came as I was checking out & said “No, I can’t let that go for a dollar, gotta have 5 for it”. So I put it right back. I want prices marked & I don’t want the prices changed on me at the checkout….If I wanted that I head to my local Walmart during these times. But it was ok. I was recounting the tale to my mother in law & doesn’t she say “go over in that corner there & pull you out that rolling pin & take it.” So I ended up with a huge pin anyway. What fun you must have had, Tipper. Hope you & Deer Hunter have some nice conversations sitting on that bench together.
That bench looks like a wonderful place to just sit a spell and let the world go by.
We enjoyed last night’s video of you all going through the store. Lots of neat things were sitting all around that store and I hope they have lots of luck selling it. Knowing how you all like old things, I”m glad you got the chance to go through it before the sale. I think the Pickers from TV would enjoy visiting that store and picking out treasures too. The bench looks like it is in a good place for you and Matt to enjoy a popsicle 🙂
Wonder if the rock marbles found in the little blue jar shown in the video were made in a hole in a stream like you told us about awhile back.
Ann-I wondered that too 🙂 I bet they were made like that!
Oh Tipper, that one picture shows treasures! Those blue jars and the enamel thunder mug are wonderful. I don’t know how you ever got out of there! That is from our people. Makes me think of my grandmother’s house so stuffed full of “stuff”.
I can see you and the Deer Hunter sitting down in that double chair, in the yard resting after working in the garden/yard!
I saw the video the girls did yesterday on YouTube about the sale. Josh is so impressive with his historical knowledge of families and local history. He’s just a nice guy and they have a lot of treasures to sale. You and the girls bought a lot of really nice things too.