Thursday, August 1, 2013

Street Scenes

Many thanks to a new acquaintance named Richard Cobb for these great street scene photos.


 
This was taken standing in front of Heavener Chevrolet (to the left) and looking north.  I don't remember the name of the Shell station, but if you look real hard the sign on the brick building says Blue Grass Market (click on photos to enlarge).  The butcher there was often kind enough to give me scraps to take back to my beagle dog.  Just to the left of that the sign says "Pizza".  Had Backstreets opened by 1979?.... or was this another pizza joint I've forgotten about.


 
 
The winter scenes above give a good look at the different businesses that were downtown.

12 comments:

  1. The Shell Station was Doc Roberts. Where Backstreets is/was there was a small two-bay Amoco station owned by Cleve Hamlin.

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  2. Doc Roberts, of course .... I shoulda known that.

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  3. Rose's...where you picked and popped a balloon to see how much your banana split was going to cost!

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  4. Pizza place was Angelo's Pizza. Wasn't there long.

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    1. My favorite pizza and calzone in the Ste by a long shot.

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  5. Yeah, Angelo's. Good pizza, the staff all seemed like they had just gotten off the boat from Italy and had little clue about the English language.

    I have somewhere in my stash of photos a shot of the mural that was painted on the side of the Blue Grass Market that showed a plate of food, a knife, and a fork, among other things. It was painted over by demand of the town, under the claim that it violated Blacksburg's (very strict) sign ordinance because it showed items that were for sale in the business. For a long time, the upper rear corner of the building (facing Doc Roberts) still had remnants of the image (don't know if they ran out of paint, patience, or ladders).

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    1. Loved the Blue Grass Market. Still have a faint memory of the mural.

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  6. Just found your blog and adore all the older photos of Blacksburg. My dad had an downtown and then relocated to further down South Main near where that old hotel with the suspicious pond used to live. I get so nostalgic for the Blacksburg that I grew up with (born in Montgomery Country hospital in '85) that I kind of don't like coming back to alumni functions at VT because I'm a stink in the mud and liked the sleepy town the way it was. Looking forward to more posts!

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  7. Does anyone remember Carver's Appliance and TV store. It was where Gillies is now. And the Corner Drug?

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  8. Another pizza place was further down main , off Ellet rd. Dined there with my grandmother when I was 10 and they had centipede. Angelos had wizard of id

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  9. My dad bought the old Western Auto in 1978, and opened Basic Hardware on Main St (pictured in the first photo). He also owned Basic II, a sporting goods store across the street, next to Partyrama. I worked there throughout my middle school and high school years and we had an open tab at Mr Fooz and the College Inn. Best after-school snacks ever!

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