Û Store Has Flavor of Yesterday
Heyen General Store at Langworthy
by Walt Carsiena
LANGWORTHY—Gone are the cracker and apple barrels, the
boxes of dried fruits, even the cat; but the pot-bellied stove remains,
nostalgic of bygone days of the country store.
This particular
pot-bellied stove has a prominent place in a country-type store—the
Heyen General Store at Langworthy. With it come all the accoutrements of
the "golden" days: The circle of chairs, the chunks of stove wood, the
checker-board.
A single light bulb on a drop cord descending from
the ceiling lights the scene for the occasional game of checkers, or for
a "warming-up" after being cut in the cold.
Gone, too, is the
cuspidor. "They aren't the marksmen they used to be!" explains Clarence
Heyen, the proprietor.
The building, with merchandising on the
ground floor and housing on the second, was built, according to local
belief, shortly after the founding of Langworthy. This village, four
miles south of Monticello on highway 151, was laid out and platted by
Col. W. T. Shaw in 1858.
Local residents claim that Peter G.
Bonewitz erected the Heyen store to provide quarters that were larger
than his first store on the other side of the road. This first store
also is thought to have been the first in the village.
Over 90 Years Old
A Jones county history published about
1875 records that Andrew H. Hall was the postmaster at that time. A
second history establishes Hall's tenure extending from 1873 to 1883.
This same history places Peter G. Bonewitz in the postmastership from
1861 to 1869. Bonewitz and Hall were successive proprietors of the Heyen
store; thus mathematical deduction quite definitely establishes the
store building as more than 90 years old.
Other proprietors of
the store, excluding the present one were: William Adams, Charles H.
Rastede, Christopher and Henry Scheer and John Heyen. John Heyen was the
father of the present owner.
The Heyen interests gained control
of the store about 65 years ago, when John Heyen, holding a part
interest in the Scheer partnership, purchased the remaining Scheer
equity.
The building, originally 28 by 60 feet, was lengthened by
the elder Heyen to 100 feet in 1910 The second floor remained as housing
quarters and contains 13 rooms. The extension, connected to the main
store by a double door, housed dry goods, ready-to-wear, crockery and
glassware.
The dry goods consisted of bolts of yard goods
displayed at an angle on shelves for better viewing by prospective
purchasers. Ready-to-wear included standard items of apparel.
The
present proprietor, Clarence Heyen, assumed ownership in 1932, when his
father retired. The store dealt in groceries, dry goods, crockery and
glassware, hardware, coal, feed, farm implements and gasoline and allied
products. The post office also was housed in this building until about
1930.
A quick trip through the display of merchandise still
reveals a vastness of stock, some of which harkens back to country store
days. However, all groceries now come packed or boxed in measured
quantities. About the only item left for bulk purchase are cheese, slabs
of bacon, and casings of summer sausage.
The back room has been
taken over by storage, and contains a nondescript array of new and
outmoded merchandise. The front room is primarily devoted to groceries;
however, the grocery counter runs smack into bins filled with pipe
fittings.
Listed among Heyen's best assets are two customers who
have traded with him for more than 60 years. They are John H. and Thomas
H. Folkers. 70 and 73 years old, respectively, and both bachelor farmers
who can remember when their parents traded at the Heyen store. They
recalled that on Saturday afternoons the store looked like a bargain day
or "pork lift."
Heyen's most amusing experience happened in the
implement division. He had delivered a farm implement and when it came
time to make settlement, the purchaser traded in a cat on the deal. When
the deal was consummated, Heyen left with a Persian cat and $2.40 less
than the purchase price. However, on the way home, he sold the cat for
$2.50.
Other businesses in Langworthy include a creamery, a large
ready-mix plant and a tavern. The post office is located in the
postmaster's home.
From The Cedar Rapids Gazette, Sunday, January
1, 1956, and submitted by Sharon
Oltmanns
