GENERAL FULTON’S GENERAL STORE

Progress Marches On

General Fulton behind the counter
at Fulton’s General Store, 1855.

By 1855, Dixie Landings was a thriving town in need of goods and services on a grander scale then ever. As though answering the call, a distinguished and recently retired army officer, General George Fulton arrived with his lovely wife Amelia and a typically tactical plan to open a well-stocked store.

Buford Honeyworth, always the enterprising businessman, had become a virtual one-man Dixie Landings chamber of commerce and was eager to promote growth in his adopted hometown. He sold the General a prime portion of his own land next door to the Sassagoula Steamboat Company at a very favorable price and, in mere months, the doors were open and business was booming at Fulton’s General Store.

The General, a tall thin man who nonetheless had all the bluster and bearing of a born military man, ran his store just as he had commanded his troops. The place was always swept, polished, clean and orderly and, for several years, it stocked only the basic necessities. “No frills at Fulton,” he was often heard to say. Still, though, residents could rely on the General to offer quality goods at fair prices. Children, the General’s one real soft spot, could always count on a free praline nougat and an encouraging pat on the head.

As time passed and the General’s interest in shopkeeping waned, his enterprising wife Amelia took over more and more of the store’s daily operation. She followed her own somewhat softer instincts and added fine linens and lace, perfumes and toiletries and a tasteful selection of gourmet foodstuffs to the store’s regular inventory. Before long, under her studied guidance, Fulton’s General Store became known as the best shopping stop along the Sassagoula. Soon, the regular stream of steamboats scheduled regular stops at Dixie Landings specifically to allow passengers the opportunity to drop in.


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