Oven Fork Mercantile

The Oven Fork Mercantile sits nestled in the valley between Pine and Black Mountains, halfway between Whitesburg and Cumberland on Highway 119. In the 1920's, it was known as Sumpter's Grocery and Service Station. The coming of the railroad, the building of coal camps, and the onset of World War 1 had brought a coal boom to the mountainous region in the early 1900's. The store continued to operate during the Great Depression and through another World war. Old receipt books show expenses and wages at a saw mill and a coal mine operated in conjunction with the store. A picture on the wall shows the proprietors, Dave and Winnie Maggard Sumpter, behind the counter with signs saying " Credit Closed on Gas, Please Do Not Ask", and " Cash Makes No Enemies". In 1945, a Post Office was put in on the other side of the room and was in operation until the late 1980's. The post office boxes, the post office window, and other artifacts remain in the original room.

The Oven Fork Mercantile opened for business in 1992 with local art, books, music, food, crafts, antiques, hickory bark bottom chairs, and homemade candies. About the same time, Blue Diamond Coal Company ceased operations at the Old Scotia Mine Site. Ronnie Sumpter, laid-off after 20 years in the coal mines turned to the reconstruction of an old log cabin. In 1996, the one room post office expanded to include a two story hand hewn log cabin (ca 1865} relocated from nearby Bad Branch Falls. Numerous rooms were added later using recycled and salvaged materials to expand the antique shop and for a Bed & Breakfast. The Mercantile is also home to Lann Photography www.lannphotography.net Lorie Sumpter uses antiques from the vast collection for sale to provide unique imagery for her photographs.

People still gather like they did in the past waiting for mail in the old post office room; now they come for antiques, food, directions, a bit of history, or just to sit a spell and talk. They sit in the old ladder back chairs bottomed with hickory bark by the grandchildren and great grandchildren of the original proprietors and discuss the latest news as they have a hot dog, a barbecue sandwich, or a piece of fudge. Often, the conversation is about the display of coal mining artifacts, old black and white pictures, the arrowhead collection, or the art display. A diverse exhibit of paintings shows old buildings, a coal mining widow from Harlan County, a "black slip series" about women, and seven miners just out of the mine. This painting was used on the set of the popular FX series, Justified. Prints of that painting are available at the Mercantile.

Lately, the conversation turns to the restoration of a historic mountain log cabin located near the old Scotia Mine site. The cabin is documented in the book Coming Down Cumberland, A History of the Maggard Family of Eastern Kentucky. It was built in 1840 by the grandson of the first settler to come down the Cumberland. The book is available at the Mercantile. Some of the restoration work is being done by Damon Sumpter, a descendent of the Maggard Clan. Once again, a tree is cut, the broad ax sharpened, and logs will be hand hewn just as the settlers did in 1805.

A visit to the Mercantile is a step into the past and into an old country store continually
changing for the future. It is open daily. For more information, contact Barbara Church 8494 HWY 119 South, Oven Fork, KY 40823 Phone 606-633-8909 www.ovenfork.com and email @ barbarafchrurch@yahoo.com