Small Town Revival

"Can we add this stop, please," said the email from my horse-crazy lady.

I opened the link and saw a picture of what appeared to be a restored quilt store. Another quilt store? In Missouri? How can it be that much different than the other 128 stores we've stopped at over the years.

Especially on the river. Most of the river towns we visit on the Wayback have quilt stores - which become a destination of our bicycle trips in from the marina. They usually have one or two ladies behind the counter waiting with shears to cut a fat quarter from a bolt of fabric for you. They always smile when they see me follow Bonnie into the store, on those few occasions that I do, knowing that I won't last long before I ask where the nearest hardware store might be located.

Another sense that we get on those boat trips and visits to river towns is that we're witnessing a static and eroding time capsule. Downtowns with side by side buildings made from neat materials like brick and stone from another era, lying either dormant and empty, or housing fledgling businesses - including quilt shops. The turnover of those businesses from year to year is awfully high. We can't help but wish we had some kind of enterprise that would rejuvenate those buildings and the community surrounding them. It would be so neat to give the buildings new life, taking advantage of their historic architecture.

That's what I expected from our stop in Hamilton, Missouri, on the way to the Clydesdale Farm in Boonsville. Small town, run down buildings from a former era, maybe a small cafe and gas station. And a quilt store. Instead, what we found was 14 quilt shops, each in completely restored, refurbished historic buildings, and bustling with shoppers and tourists. Well, actually one of the fourteen was what they called a "Man's Land," equipped with lounge chairs and wall-mounted televisions to entertain the spouses of quilt-crazy ladies. Many of the buildings were interconnected, with open internal passageways between them, just like Disney's Main Street.

We learned it was all the result of the entrepreneurial efforts of the Doan family. Starting on a shoestring with one small, unsuccessful shop in 2008, they moved to the internet, using you-tube tutorials on quilting as an awareness vehicle to generate tremendous demand for their pre-cut fabrics to get the business firmly in the black. (It really is a special story of necessitated entrepreneurialism - see Missouri Star Quilt Company.) From that revenue foundation they developed and expanded a bricks-and-mortar retail destination that now draws busloads of quilting enthusiasts. In the process they bankrolled other small businesses like restaurants, including the Blue Sage which served us one of the finest, most elegantly presented meals we've had in a long time.


One of the quilt shops carries the name Penney - as in J.C. Penney's. In fact, in 1924 J.C. Penney himself had bought the same building, the former J.M. Hale store, where he had started his own career freshly graduated from high school twenty years earlier. Hamilton was his home town, evidenced by the J.C. Penney museum, located in the library on main street. That's where I spent my first half hour while Bonnie toured the shops. In the deathly quiet, as the only visitor, I appreciated learning about the management principles and ESOP-like structure that allowed his rapid expansion and success in the retail field.



Stepping back out into the street, I wondered how I could avoid the quilting tour when I spied a sign leaning casually against a building just over a block off of the main drag. Closer inspection revealed a small brewhouse with tap room. PERFECT! For the next hour and a half I sampled from a five flight of micro brews, chatting it up with the bartender and a couple of guests returning to Minnesota after their winter hibernation in Texas.  I suggested to the young bartender that business must be helped by spouses like us looking for alternate activities to the quilt crawl. In fact, he said, quite a number of the quilters themselves visit during or after their tour. Two very elderly ladies were in earlier that day, ordering a flight of twelve. He prepared the flight and presented it to them at their table when one said, "where's my flight?" That's about 24 ounces of beer at more than 6% alcohol for each. The ladies left feeling even better about their visit to Hamilton, no doubt.

After Bonnie joined me, bag of purchases in tow, we struck up a conversation with two local ladies sitting at a table in the small tap room. Bonnie's riding friend, Cheryl, had made us aware of Hamilton as it was her family's home town. Her parents, Raymond and Maurine Alexander, both grew up near Hamilton.  Asking if the ladies knew of the former mayor, a cousin of Cheryl, they said of course, they know everybody in town. They also knew Cheryl, and other names Bonnie read from the live texts she was exchanging with Cheryl.

While a much more vibrant town than a few short years ago, thanks to the quilting hobby and an industrious local family, Hamilton is still a small town in the heart of Americana.

Footnote:

As we were considering a visit to Hamilton, Bonnie received this advice from Cheryl's Dad, Raymond Alexander via FB messenger (using FB at age 86 - how cool is that!)

The quilt shop that I have mentioned several times is the one in Hamilton, Mo., which was my home town and where I graduated high school. This town was drying up until this family started building the town back and have several quilt stores with each one depicting a different era. We haven't been there for quite some time. I was raised at a farm about 5 miles east, north of Nettleton (which is nothing now) on a farm north of town. J.C. Penney's home town was Hamilton and there is a quilt shop in the old Penny store. J.C. Penny had a farm east of town where he raised black angus cattle and he would let the Future Farmer's from surrounding towns to come in and judge his cattle. There of course the Penny High School. Been gone from Missouri to mention any good breakfast stops. There are many quilt shops all along Hwy 36 now. Hamilton is about 6 miles east of 35 at the intersection of Cameron. Maurine was raised about 8 or 10 miles south of Hamilton around Mirable, but we didn't meet until we had both went to Kansas City. Growing up in the 40's, I graduated in 1949, on Saturday night, you had to get to town early to get a parking spot. Farmers would bring in their eggs and cream to sell and do their grocery shopping. Saturday night movies with Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Lone Ranger and others. I went to the old high school, as the Penny High School was built much later. Before the J. C. Penny farm had Black Angus cattle, he raised Racing horses. Enjoy your trip.