Our Hometown
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Goossen's Store
James, or 'Jim,' was born with an irresistible urge to sell to his neighbors or anyone he could search out with a need to buy items in his possession. The budding businessman outfitted himself with a suitcase of salable merchandise, and set out afoot throughout the countryside of Marion. Jim was allowed to use his parents' home on Union Street as his base. This was the birth of his company which carried on for 83 years; he partnered with Peter Steyaart in 1903. The company was once headquartered in the last store beside the Presbyterian Church. The store became the Red & White in later years owned by John Cornelius. Jim then purchased the brick building of Ira S. Holmes, soon after Jim enlarged the brick Holmes store, making what turned out to be one of his lucky moves. The stores on the south side of the brick block were destroyed in a raging fire in January 1902. People helped move Jim's merchandise across Main Street to shelter it from harm in the Baptist Church. This consuming fire was a block buster, destroying the portion of Main Street from Buffalo Street north. The stores to the south of Buffalo Street would have been destroyed as well if they had not covered the Atlantic Hotel's wall with wet blankets, as noted in the archives. In 1928 Leon Shippers partnered with Jim, who retired in 1959; then Leon Shippers assumed sole ownership. The business closed on April 18, 1968. The store was remodeled, to accommodate three new businesses. A restaurant was opened and the South end housed Dorothy's Beauty Shop also Howard's Barber Shop. The Holmes Building surely went through a multitude of changes during its lifetime. Today, in 2008, a unique restaurant titled 'The Bee Skep' is providing nourishment to scads of hungry souls of Marion and vicinity. The landmark has withstood the ravages of time, leaving memories, and it is not forgotten. Copyright
©
2008 |
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The chronicles witness a young boy wandering the byways of the country hamlet soon to be named Marion, located in Upstate New York, long before 1890.