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The Long Branch Community
Toney Starnes' Store at Long Branch
Long Branch is located below Center Hill Dam, the first creek to flow into the Caney Fork River. The Andrew Starnes family was one of the first to live in the area; they were of German ancestry. Bennett Braswell is said to have arrived from North Carolina about 1823 and to have married Andrew Starnes' daughter, Elizabeth.
Larkin Maynard settled on Long Branch as well; his children and grandchildren also lived there.
Wilson Denny, Joe Holly, Everett Trapp and others moved to Long Branch after the Civil War. By 1940, around forty families inhabited the area. Right around this time, work began on Center Hill Dam, bringing many changes to the community. Electricity was brought in and jobs became available.
The road needed improvement, but it was slow in coming. In the 1950's, part of the Long Branch road ran into the branch and went down the branch for for several hundred yards before coming back onto the bank.
The Hopewell Methodist Church was located in a log building on the lower end of Long Branch by 1854. It was also used for school purposes until 1902, when H.S. Winfree, John A. Williams, Jerry M. Starnes, Isaac Cripps and Joseph F. Holley, trustees of the Methodist Church, conveyed to the school trustees "the old Hopewell church and lot", including half the spring, for school purposes. A new church was built across the creek on a lot given by John F. Holley. That building was destroyed about 1960 by a tornado. Rebuilt on the same location, in 1995 it became the nondenominational Long Branch Community Church, which is still active today.
A new one-room frame school was built in 1904 and served until the school closed in 1952. In 1912, the school had 65 students and one teacher. George Lamberson taught there for six years and Opal Nixon for five years in later times.
Toney Starnes' store was one of the most important parts of the Long Branch community for about 50 years. The store was near the site where the road crossed the creek. It had a front porch, but otherwise looked like a barn that had never been painted. Toney carried an incredible variety of goods, as he was engaged in both buying and selling. He bought eggs and chickens from those who had them to sell, as well as animal hides from the hunters -- 10 cents for a possum, $2.50 for a black polecat. He bought and sold hams, mule shoes as well as shoes for people, ice cream, Coca-Cola, dress goods by the yard and "coal oil" as kerosene was called. He sold all kinds and varieties of tobacco, and at Christmastime, oranges, apples and bananas. He extended credit to those who needed to pay after the crop came in. A pot-belly stove kept the store warm in winter, and one could stay and find out the latest news: who was getting married, how much the baby weighed, who caught the most fish and the market price for cattle and hogs. After Toney retired, the store was torn down in 1969.
Justin Potter Library in Smithville has a book, History of Long Branch, written in 1975 by Sam Denny for those with further interest.
Larkin Maynard settled on Long Branch as well; his children and grandchildren also lived there.
Wilson Denny, Joe Holly, Everett Trapp and others moved to Long Branch after the Civil War. By 1940, around forty families inhabited the area. Right around this time, work began on Center Hill Dam, bringing many changes to the community. Electricity was brought in and jobs became available.
The road needed improvement, but it was slow in coming. In the 1950's, part of the Long Branch road ran into the branch and went down the branch for for several hundred yards before coming back onto the bank.
The Hopewell Methodist Church was located in a log building on the lower end of Long Branch by 1854. It was also used for school purposes until 1902, when H.S. Winfree, John A. Williams, Jerry M. Starnes, Isaac Cripps and Joseph F. Holley, trustees of the Methodist Church, conveyed to the school trustees "the old Hopewell church and lot", including half the spring, for school purposes. A new church was built across the creek on a lot given by John F. Holley. That building was destroyed about 1960 by a tornado. Rebuilt on the same location, in 1995 it became the nondenominational Long Branch Community Church, which is still active today.
A new one-room frame school was built in 1904 and served until the school closed in 1952. In 1912, the school had 65 students and one teacher. George Lamberson taught there for six years and Opal Nixon for five years in later times.
Toney Starnes' store was one of the most important parts of the Long Branch community for about 50 years. The store was near the site where the road crossed the creek. It had a front porch, but otherwise looked like a barn that had never been painted. Toney carried an incredible variety of goods, as he was engaged in both buying and selling. He bought eggs and chickens from those who had them to sell, as well as animal hides from the hunters -- 10 cents for a possum, $2.50 for a black polecat. He bought and sold hams, mule shoes as well as shoes for people, ice cream, Coca-Cola, dress goods by the yard and "coal oil" as kerosene was called. He sold all kinds and varieties of tobacco, and at Christmastime, oranges, apples and bananas. He extended credit to those who needed to pay after the crop came in. A pot-belly stove kept the store warm in winter, and one could stay and find out the latest news: who was getting married, how much the baby weighed, who caught the most fish and the market price for cattle and hogs. After Toney retired, the store was torn down in 1969.
Justin Potter Library in Smithville has a book, History of Long Branch, written in 1975 by Sam Denny for those with further interest.