History of Blues Market

by Bob Forester

(click on photos for larger versions)

William and Walter Duncan owned the two story grocery store on the corner where Blues Mkt. is today. They sold grocery's, shoes, clothes and even took garden stuff in to sell including eggs. Walter's daughter was born upstairs in 1910 there.

They sold to S.J. Williams, he made a hardware store out of it which later burned around 1921.He is buried across Piney in a family plot. The farm later was the Old Doc. Smith place , Doc's daughter Nelly married Sidney Gaddy, later he died and it became the Claud Mace farm. My Dad and Mother worked for Sidney Gaddy and Doc Smith in 1935.

After the fire Tom Staggs rebuilt the one story brick building, after 1921. Later in 1924 he built the part where Blues Too is. Staggs had the Newburg Mercantile Store and Kerr was in the Post Office. Later a younger Kerr moved into the 1924 addition.

My Dad worked for Will Duncan over on Spring Creek around 1937 or 1938. Walter went in with a Kerr and opened the Duncan and Kerr store where the Masonic Lodge building up the street. (main street)

Later Walter Duncan took over as Postmaster. The Kerr's and the Duncan's were related.

George Turner took over the 1924 addition in 1929, he came up from South of Springfield, Mo. during the 1921 railroad strike as a scab as they were called. Carl Turner his son started in working there in the 1930s till 1957.

The Post Office looked like this at first until some one blew the safe and they arranged the walls so the safe could be seen by the police through the plate glass window. When I was a kid, when you walked in the boxes were straight ahead and the windows were to the right. You could see out the big window from behind the post office windows.

I hope this helps until something better comes along. I will do some looking around. As you know I will help in anyway I can. I love the Old Burg.