Jones store at Cason Point Road
Updated October 14, 2013.
October 20, 2010. TULLY L. CAPPS STORE
April 30, 2012. JIM BOWDEN STORE
May 29, 2010 THE ISLANDER Interviews Casey Munden and Preston Jones.
November 8, 2011. In the 1964 May Day festival program
there is a mention of a Jones Grocery and also an Island Grocery
and Supply. Jimmy Cason commented that the store at Woodleigh and
Knotts Island Road was called Jones
Grocery and Supply. Preston Jones purchased the property in
August 1960. This was bought by Dave Dennis from Preston Jones in
July 1989. Dave was the one who changed it to Knotts Island
Market. The deed stated that there would always be room for the
guys to play dominos. Beverly Gilliam purchased the store in Nov
2007.
Island Grocery and supply was the store at Brumley Road and South
End Road that is still owned by John Munden. It was previously
owned and run by his father Eddie Munden.
November 25, 2011. Comment Jim Waterfield: In 1963, my uncle. J.E. Munden Sr. retired and leased his Brumley/South End RD store to E.M. Chippy Cooper. At this point, it was renamed Island Grocery. This named continued under Royal Hutchinson and Slim Harrison. By 1972, it was gone. Now it is Daddy Rabbits operated by John Munden III. Ed Bumley sold canned goods at his landing. Thus it was a store of some sorts. The Barnes family had a small PT store at the Southend. In the 40s, there were 3 stores Jones, Mundens, and Ottma Bonney's store across the road from Mundens. Ottma Bonney sold it in 1947 to Jenks Ansell. In 1948, it burned and Jenks opened his beer joint on his mother's land. Ira Jones built a small store across on the other side of Mundens. It went under in 1950. In the 50's Mundens and Jones were the main stores.
I made the comment that I didn't think the Island could support two stores.
Cindy Scott stated that when these stores were in their hayday people didn't run to Walmart when they needed anything. There wasn't one. A lot of people on the Island did all their shopping at one or the other general store. As progress grew the stores were used less and less. There were small stores like the ones on the island all up and down Princess Anne county. There were two in Creeds, one at the blinking light at Clops corner, one in Back Bay, one at Charity Neck, two in Pungo and one all the way to old Dam Neck road called M&M store.
Jimmy Cason said that another reason for so many small stores up and down Princess Anne County and here across the Island.... Not everyone drove. Most people walked. For example, my Grandma and Grandpa Cason came from Swan Island by boat and then walked from the South End to Eddie Mundens for the Mail and what groceries they needed. To the best of my knowledge Grandpa (Lundy Cason Sr) never owned a car. For all I know he didn't know how to drive. Therefore people needed a store within walking distance from their homes. I have a friend in Pungo (Mr. Land) he is in his 80s. He told me that when he was growing up near the sandpit just south of "Blooms" at Sandbridge and Princess Anne Rd, that his family went to the Va. Beach ocean front....just a few miles up the road... only twice a year ! July 4th and Labor Day for fireworks and church socials. As he put it "no one ran up and down the roads like they do today" either because they didn't have an automobile or they didn't have a need to. Everything they needed they either grew on the own farms or got at the local general stores.
John Barnes said that there was a foot path from the South end thru the Curtis Fentress and Capps farms to Blackfoot Rd and then to Munden's store. There were stiles or steps over the fences.
Jane Brumley commented that just as you came on the Island, from the Marsh Road, Casey Munden (brother of Eddie Munden) had a store where the "Welcome to KI " sign is now. Before that one, he had a store where the community trash dump is currently located. When I was very young (many years ago) there were two stores at the location of Woodleigh & Cason Point. One was small and I remember eating ice cream there. They had gasoline pumps there where the gasoline was in a clear container on top of the tank and disappeared as it was pumped in the car gas tanks. Entertainment on a Sat night was gathering at the stores or the men would go there while the Island ladies would visit in someone's home.
Cindy Phillips said that when we would come down to see my grandparents; there were two things we would look for. Kinda like once you saw these two things, you knew you didn't have that much farther to go. One was the Marsh road and seeing the turtles lined up on the logs sticking out of the water. The other was when you came on the Island and you saw Jones Grocery at the fork and you could see the guys out front playing checkers. (in the summer of course).
Frank Jennings noted that when he first went there in Nov 1977 the table and chairs were just milk crates turned over to sit on.
August 8, 2010 JONES INTERVIEW
From the Newspaper Collection of Sue Austin.
May 24, 2010. Virginia Beach Beacon February 2, 1977 and The Daily Advance June 23, 1974. Same author. Same text. Different photos. JONES GROCERY is Knotts Island Landmark.
May 3, 2010. Comment - Joel Waterfield: I remember walking through the woods from my Aunt Hettie White's house to Herman Jones old store, with my cousins Marvin White and June Fay Cason, back in the middle 1940s to get a Grapette or Orange Crush drink and sometimes a Popsicle. It was so dark at night, sometimes you had to look up through the tree tops to see the opening so you could tell the lane turned. Herman Jones store was lit with three or four Delco AC generators. It was one of a few places with modern, (for the time on KI) lighting. It was entertaining to hear the stories the old timers told and watch the heated Domino, games being played.
May 3, 2010. Comment - Melinda Lukei: Joe Waterfield, you were probably going to Jones' Grocery to pick up your mail. I have a certificate saying that my grandfather Paul C. Jones was the post master starting March 30, 1914. He was post master until his death 27 Sept 1944. Paul and Herman inherited the store from their father John Malachi Jones. John Malachi Jones and his brother Joachium Beasley Jones bought the store from Jackson Spratt.
May 3, 2010. Comment - Melinda Lukei: The Jones' store opposite John Munden's store on Brumley Road was run by an Uncle. It was run by Voight Lee Jones b 14 May 1890 d 11 Dec 1955. He married Katherine Boone and later opened the store at the BIG Curve at Princess Anne Road and Pocahontas Club Road (at the blinking light) before you get to the turn off to Munden Point. I believe my great-grandfather set him up in business when he gave the other two brothers the store he was operating. Voight was the father of Ira Voight Jones, Mardell, Jannie Bell, Ellen Page, Lillian May and Connie Jones married Marvin Lee Etheridge. The store stayed empty for many years. Ira might have operated it for a few years before he moved to Creeds. I'm not sure about that.
May 3, 2010. Comment - Melinda Lukei: There was another store at the north-end run by Mr John Edmond Munden. Sr. and his wife Sarah Elizabeth Bonney. It was passed down to Ferdinand Munden. Mrs. Pauline Munden told me that when Mr. Munden passed this down to Ferdinand he bought the Munden store in the middle of the island for his son John Edmond Munden. Here is a picture she gave to me. It was in the area where Casey Munden lived. I believe she told me that the lady standing in the cart was her mother. Myron "Casey" may have run the north-end store when Ferdinand Munden went to Commerial Place in Norfolk and opened a hardware store. Pauline told me about going in the store and buying lace for her dresses. Her husband didn't carry lace in his store
May 3, 2010. Comment - Jane Brumley: Casey Munden (brother of Eddie) ran a store at the north end. I think one was near the current trash dump. Another one he ran I think was near the Y, just as you come on the Island.
December 11, 2010. Southern Post October 22, 1983. Courtesy of R. E. Parker. This is, in part, a continuation of an article that appeared in The Sunday Advance, March 22 1970 by S. W. Parker. Added April 28, 2010.
I was on Knotts Island some time ago and stopped into Mr. Munden's store – who is the son of the one I have referred to previously (merchant on Knotts Island by the name of Munden who had the same state room each Friday night!). He pointed to a salesman who was placing groceries on the shelves and said “I don't know what the world is coming to. In the good old days I could take a horse and cart, drive to the south end of the Island, push a barge to the pier head, load my groceries on a barge, load them on a cart and at that time I could place them on any shelf that I chose and if I made a dollar it was mine. Now if I make a dollar, Uncle Sam tells me what to do with it. Bread was shipped in paper cartons of 12 to 24 to the package. At that time the bread was not wrapped. Then we got a road over here and I got my bread wrapped” he said. “I sold one of my customers a loaf and about one hour later he returned and said, 'Here is your bread – I don't want it as someone has cut it all to pieces'. I believe the good old days are gone forever”
From the John Munden Collection
Virginia Beach Sun. January 20, 1955
May 9, 2010. Comment - Sandra Williams McCarthy: My grandfather, Ottma Bonney operated a store across the road from the Munden store, on the same side as the post office and near it. It was a general store. He sold food, sundries, gasoline and miscellaneous. He sold gasoline using the old fashioned pump. I don't know when it opened or when it closed but I would visit there during W.W.II. In the evening men would gather around the stove and talk. Great-aunt Gertie Bonney, Hal Bonney, Jr's grandmother, was the postmistress at the time. When Grandpa Bonney's store burned to the ground, John Munden later used the location to build a home.
May 16, 2010. Comment - Tunis Corbell: All our goods for the general stores were shipped on the schooner's return trip. I used to ride on the mule wagon with my father, Tunis Corbell, Sr. hauling sweet potatoes to the south end of Knotts Island for shipment to major ports up North. Mr Ottma Bonney ran the dock at the south end of Knotts Island near where the ferry docks are today.
May 16, 2010. Comment - Sandra Williams McCarthy: Grandpa Bonney had a store at the South end so that when the boat came in loaded with goods the store was in a convenient location to receive them. He sold that store to buy the one near Munden's when the goods were no longer delivered by boat.
January 25, 2012. From Sue Austin. My memories are of Papa Ed (Ed Brumley, my grandfather) renting boats, selling minnows & other types of bait. He also sold soft drinks & small items like chips, cakes & nabs. My Aunt Ruth sometimes painted very attractive pictures on decorative wall plates which she sometimes sold down there. We grandkids would fish from a little canal that was located on the backside of the Landing House. I caught many rainbow fish with crab meat or a minnow. Kids could walk to the end of the wharf & we kinda had a good swimming place there. Also I remember many weekends when the boats were racing one another & folks would stand/sit on the ground & watch the action. People ski'd & rode surf boards (1950s style!) Which were pulled by a long rope. Some fun times. The Landing House was in operation from mid-50s to early 60s. My grandfather died in 1961.
Comment Jimmy Waterfield. Ed Brumley was a fine man. As a child, he told me many stories about old timey Knotts Island. Larry Etheridge, his grandson, and I both worked for him down there bailing boats and what ever he needed us to do. I remember Ruth's paintings mostly seascapes which she did indeed sell. Every now and then they would get in to it. Ed told her one day "I will take you across my knee and I don't care how old you are." I helped him to build his house at the landing which still stands today. Ed said it is my dog house! I need it to get away from Minnie when I take a drink. Ed was alright.
May 4, 2010. Comment - Jane Brumley: Then there was Harriets. Who remembers? I do remember it was light green in color. Its location was at the beginning of the causeway; where the walking trail on refuge property is located today. It was quite a place in its day. All manner of goings on. Even a shooting.
May 4, 2010. Comment - Jimmy Cason: This must have been Nick and Harriets, which was at the now .3 mile loop trail. The building was moved and I believe Jimmy told me is now the house next to Lee and Jennifer Simpson on KI Road. Jimmy's dad used to tell us stories about that place. It must have been hopping in its prime
October 12, 2013. From Jane Brumley: I know it was open during the 1950's. It was called NICKS. Nick was Harriet's husband and he had a heart attack & passed away there. Later it was called Harriets. They were from NYC. They had a son Wayne who, by now, would be close to 80 yrs old. A daughter named Renee who would be in her 60's. They lived in the Cal Williams house which was close to the NC/Va state line on the North End of the Island. Harriet also took care of Watsy Waterman who some may remember as an Island character. They are buried in the KI Cemetary & here is info on their tombs. Arthur R."Nick" Carrier, 29 March 1913, 9 March 1957. Harriett B. Carrier, 14 July 1915, 2 Sept 1973
October 14, 2013. From Diane Waterfield Karpov: Speaking about Harriet's, when I was a young girl maybe 8 or 9 years of age, Renee, Harriet's daughter and I were in the same grade at Knott's Island school. I use to spend the night with Renee alot. The "beerjoint" as I've always heard it called, you went thru the front door and the bar was aross from the door. The inside was nothing much. I remember going after school one day with Renee and a band was set-up between the 2 windows and a heavy bedspread hung from a rope and behind a double bed. As a kid you had to go directly behind the blanket and you didn't want to mess around with Miss Harriet. Never stayed very long inside always taken to Captain Bill's, which was Renee's grandfather and Harriet's father. They had a large old house on the North-end on the right I think and in the winter it was so warm inside. Do not remember how long Renee attended KI school, she returned to New York.
October 5, 2013. From Debbie Tatem.
May 4, 2010. Comment - Gary N. Fentress: I do not personally remember Jenks Store. However, my Grandma Roxie Etta White Fentress used to rave about Jenks’ hamburgers. She said they were the best she'd ever eaten...
January 15, 2012. Comment - Jimmy Cason: Jenks was a bar/ restaurant that was at the corner of Blackfoot Rd. and South End Road. The building is gone now. Jennings aka Jenks Ansell originally opened it. Sometime in the 70s he leased it or sold it to a woman named Sue....last name I can't recall, from there it transfered to John Romano, who ran it for several years before it ended up in the hands of its final owner operator Tom. However it remained known as Jenks Place up until Tom ran it and changed the name to Knotts Island Inn. Thats part of the reason I think both Sue and John merley leased it. Jenks was married to Melrose Ansell who is Jane Etheridge's sister. And yes, they did have a great hamburger.
November 22, 2011. Comment - Sharon Atherton: It was either Mrs. Gladys Stevens or Mrs. Bessie Cason our bus driver. When we turned onto Blackfoot Rd she would have one person take our orders for snow cone, soda, a good old fat juicy pickle or etc. By the time the bus came back it would be ready. Life just didn't get any better than that. Mrs. Gladys and Mrs. Bessie were wonderful. Jenks had GREAT hamburgers, snow cones. I can picture his welcoming smile.
January 19, 2012. From the Junior Historian Assoc.
January 27, 2012. Joesey Ammons Irving. The snack-bar was located just to the right of the ferry. We had the property before the ferry was brought in. The sand hill (now marsh) is from where they dredged for the ferry. A lot of us kids would walk over to it from our place through the water (not even knee deep). We had our own private beach!!! Good ol' days. We had a trailer with a closed in porch, the snack bar, and then dad built a two bedroom, bath and kitchen to the far right of the property for fishermen or hunters to use or our family, company, etc. Dad put in the bulkhead and the pine trees. Perfect spot on the island. Anyone was welcomed to the snack bar. Mom had a grill, burners, etc. for cooking meals. Alcohol was not allowed. Parents would bring the kids down for icecream, etc. The teens loved the juke box. Of course, after the ferry came, then she had a lot of business. She loved it. Then back to VB for another school year.
May 4, 2010. Comment - Jane Brumley: There was another store that was owned/ran by a Bowden. I think it was located somewhere close to Mackay Island Road. I have his ledger book that is dated 1898. In it is listed the folks and goods, price under each name. Example: 5 pounds of shot was 35 cents.