Once a defining feature of rural America, the general store is rapidly becoming an endangered architectural species. Such buildings formerly dotted the countryside with regularity. Most, however, have vanished, and most remaining ones are abandoned. An unusually early example is found in the tiny hamlet of Brooklyn in Halifax County, built around 1850 by William Easley as the successor to an earlier establishment. Easley later was associated with Beverly Barksdale II, and after 1855 Barksdale operated the store in conjunction with his nearby Brooklyn Tobacco Factory. The business along with the post office was run by Barksdale’s son when it closed in 1903. The Brooklyn Store and Post Office eventually was converted to a dwelling but without significant alteration to its interior, which preserves a number of its early fittings including the customized shelving in the large sales room. A rehabilitation of 1994-95 rescued the store from threatened deterioration.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia