Boxes and Boxes of Seed Packs at Renfrow General Merchandise, Matthews, NC

Seed Boxes at Renfrow General Merchandise, Matthews, NC

During a Photography Meet-Up Group Day I took a stroll through the town of Matthews, NC.

Matthews was an unspoiled rolling woodland with large strands of trees; the ancestral home of the Waxhaw and Catawba Indians. By the 1800’s this rich and fertile land attracted settlers, who were mainly farmers. The farmers began clearing the land and cotton grew well and became the primary cash crop. As the land was cleared for planting there were so many tree stumps left standing, that the early settlement was called unofficially Stumptown!

Box Shaped Store Fronts in Matthews, NC

Box Shaped Store Fronts in Matthews, NC

The Bicycle Shop, Matthews, NC

Most of the main street shops are in the shape of boxes. There is still a general merchandise store that sells everything! Well for planting that is!  If you need ANY type of Seed this is the place for you! Have fun as you look around the small town of Matthews. Lots of boxes here and some outside the box images too!

Renfrow General Merchandise Store, Matthews, NC

Renfrow Hardware and General Merchandise, Matthews, NC

Outside Renfrow General Store, Matthews, NC

Renfrow General Store, Matthews, NC

Renfrow General Store, Matthews, NC

Renfrow General Merchandise got its start before 1900 with Thomas Jefferson “Captain” Renfrow, a mining engineer.  Renfrow came to Matthews after the Civil War and opened the Rea gold mine.  A movie theater is built upon one of the mine shaft’s openings.  As the mine became successful, Renfrow purchased farmland and oversaw a flourishing cotton farm, later becoming a cotton ginner and broker.  Renfrow began ginning cotton in 1906 and at one point had four gins operating in one building. The Renfrow General Merchandise Store is an American icon! And one last look at another photo; the BOXcar!

BOXcar, in Matthews, NC

Look here to participate the One Word Photo Challenge presented by Jennifer Nicole Wells!