WILSON & WHALEY

    Above:  The interior of the Wilson-Whaley Company sometime after 1906.  Note the three bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. On the shelving to the left are additional bolts of cloth and woven baskets.  Behind the clerks on the right are prints for framing and decorating a home.  Both sides of the shelves appear to have shoe boxes and hat boxes are along the top of the right side.  Also notice the water melon at he front of the Friedman Shoes sign.

A side note:  Dr, A.H. Neal was related to the wife of W.C. Streety; Dr. Henry Rush the son of the druggist married Julia Streety; May Streety married O.E. Whaley.

    The Wilson and Whaley Company--De Leon’s Cash Store--is believed to have opened in 1895 or 1896.  It continued operations until at least 1912 and probably until 1917.  The owners were probably James M. Whaley Sr. and Jasper B. Wilson.  Wilson was a cotton buyer.  Whaley died in 1898, and management may have passed to his son James Jr. who married Grace Wilson.  The store operated initially in the southern half of what later came to be called the Hampton Building when it was acquired years later by A.E. Hampton.  By 1912, Wilson and Whaley had taken over the whole building and had another two story warehouse building  constructed across the alley to the west.  The first floor of the warehouse was used by the company as a display area for farm implements and caskets while the second floor was used as a theater or opera house.   That building was called “the Ark”.  The store was a typical general store, as indicated by the signs and products seen in the above photograph.  The circular sign advertises Royal Tailors.  On the support poles on either side of the wagon are signs for Mc Calls Patterns.  The sign on the left has hoes hanging from it.  There are feed or seed bags stacked along the sidewalk.  The store eventually offered groceries and hardware goods.   Mr. Whaley (probably Sr.) is the gentleman in the straw hat.  Lee Bills is known to be in the photo and is probably the man on the buggy.

     Below:  Although the photo appears to be older than the one above, it is believed to have been taken at a later date.   Notice that there is a telephone or electric pole in front of the building that had not been installed in the above photo.  R.H. Rush Druggist occupied the north end of the building sometime after 1900.Dr. A.H. Neal & Co. occupied the north side of the building prior to Rush.  Rush was joined by his son around 1906 and the drug store was renamed Rush and Rush.