The Davis General Store Records, 1957-1972

Access and use

Location of collection:
Fairfax County Public Library
Fairfax County Public Library
City of Fairfax Regional Library
Virginia Room
10360 North Street
Fairfax, VA 22030-2514
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Chris Barbuschak
Phone: (703) 293-2142
Phone: (703) 293-6227 ext. 6 (Virginia Room)
Fax: (703) 293-2155

Summary

Extent:
12.5 linear feet
Creator:
Davis, Shirley Dove (1931-2014)
Abstract:
The Davis General Store Records consists of 12.5 linear feet and spans the years 1957-1972 and includes the record books and daily receipts of expenditures at the Fairfax Station, Virginia store.
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

The Davis General Store Records consists of 12.5 linear feet and spans the years 1957-1972 and includes the record books and daily receipts of expenditures at the Fairfax Station, Virginia store. These records, maintained by co-owner Shirley Dove Davis, include complete daily receipts of products she purchased to sell in the store ranging from local newspapers to bakery goods to candy bars and automobile parts. She purchased goods from local businesses and farmers as well as national distributers. The receipts are kept in their original order. Subjects include Fairfax Station and Clifton, Virginia as well as the history of general store operations, material culture and products bought in Fairfax County during the 1950s-1970s.

Biographical / historical:

What today is known as the Davis General Store at 7600 Clifton Road traces its roots back to Isaac Frank Woodyard. Woodyard bought the land at the intersection of Wolf Run Shoals Road and Clifton Road in March 1883. Shortly thereafter he opened a two-story frame general store on the site known as Woodyard’s Store. On June 5, 1907, George C. Fairfax shot and killed Woodyard in his store over a dispute over the location of the local polling place. After the authorities arrested him, Fairfax committed suicide.

Woodyard’s widow rented the store out to brothers Robert and Eugene Makely and eventually sold it to them on December 2, 1911. They renamed it Makely’s Store and also added a gasoline pump. The corner is still known as Makely’s Corner to this day. The Makely family sold the store in 1938 and it changed hands several times. In January 1955, Herbert A. Urie bought the store and renamed it Urie’s Community Market. Leighton and Shirley Davis bought it from Urie on August 5, 1957 and it has been known as the Davis General Store ever since. The couple had worked at the store for some years prior and in 1951, they built a house across the street from it.

By 1964 the business had outgrown the old frame building. Practically located in the middle of the intersection due to the crossroads expansion over the years, the Davises decided to construct a newer building further away from the road. They opened the current flat-roofed cinderblock store on April 3, 1965, and had the original building razed.

In 1973, the Davises leased out the store and eventually sold it in 1985. The store’s ownership has changed numerous times since and the building itself has been modernized over the years. Leighton Davis died on December 5, 1990 and Shirley Davis passed away on February 27, 2014.

Acquisition information:
Collection donated by Shirley Davis’ daughters, Linda Davis and Andrea Shimer on July 1, 2015.