H. W. Pusser Dry Goods
Chesterfield Theater
Douglas Income Tax
Kevin Lear on Main
1940 Theater Tickets $ .14
1950 Theater Tickets $ .40
Hugh Pusser: My grandfather, H. W. Pusser, brought his family here in 1897 from New Salem in North Carolina. He opened a dry goods store at this location.
Elizabeth Ann Gaddy Rivers and Katherine Ward Rivers Braswell: Lem Wetmore married Dorothy Munn (sister to Gary Munn). They had a daughter named Davada. I think the mother was ill, and James Moore's mother was a nanny for the child while Lem worked. Lem was also a cotton buyer. I recall how he would spell Mississippi, which was his home.
James W. Jenkins: Billy and Dale Lee operated the theater for a number of years. Many of my friends worked there during the time they managed the theater. I recall some of them: Frank White, Bobby Melton, John Robert Landon, and Bobby Jenkins.
Elizabeth Ann Gaddy Rivers: Billy and Dale Lee were Chesterfield's original babysitters. Some of us went to the "picture show" every time the feature changed. Saturday was the big day! I could see a feature (usually a Western), a newsreel, a serial installment, and sometimes a cartoon all for 7 cents. Later it cost 9 cents, and when I was twelve, I had to pay 14 cents! Billy and Dale continued to "babysit" us into our teen-age years. One of Billy's greatest challenges was keeping us quiet during the movie. I also remember hearing Plume tell of his grandmama Ella Gaskins who went to the theater every Wednesday where she always sat in the same seat. One afternoon there was just she and one man in the entire place. When she got there, he was sitting in her seat, and she told him so and asked him to move. He did!
Douglas Mill Income Tax occupied this building until they moved up the street to 142 Main Street. It is now occupied by Kevin Lear on Main; the lower floor is a flower shop, and the upper floor is an apartment where the owner lives.