Business & Industry
As towns grew in Eastern Montgomery, small, family-owned enterprises proliferated — from canneries, grocery stores, garages, and roadside markets to grain mills and a business that provided watercress to hotels and restaurants in major American cities. The museum houses relics of many of these ventures.
These images are a small representative sample of our collection. Visit the museum to see all items on display, or contact us about accessing available files.
Charles Eugene Sisson in his story at Alleghany Springs on Strawberry Lane, circa 1960
Sisson Bros. Garage, Shawsville, circa 1930
Steel water cup from Sisson Bros. Garage in Shawsville, circa 1930
R.L. Howard Tomato Cannery, Elliston, 1954
Watercress ponds at Big Spring Farm, Elliston, circa 1937. Shown in the top right corner is the Elliston train station and the Norfolk & Western water towers for the steam engines as they prepare to climb the Christiansburg hill. The watercress business, whose clients included luxury hotels and liners, was owned by Ollin Moomaw and lasted for more than 40 years
Kimbalton Lime Company, 1920s. The company was owned by White Ryan, Colston Snead, Ambrose Marye, and John Vaughn of Edge Hill farm.
Wimmer's Grocery, Alleghany Spring Road, Shawsville
Ragland's Grocery in downtown Shawsville, circa 1960
E.B. Gibson gas station and store, Shawsville. Shown (l. to r.) are E.B. Gibson, Bill Basham, and Noah Basham.
Snead & Ryan Farm Supplies in the old Shawsville train station. Snead & Ryan leased the space from 1955 until 1979.
Amoco station, Shawsville, circa 1959, opened in 1951 and operated by Dayton Sisson and George "June" Williams
Hale's Restaurant in Shawsville, opened in 1967 by Jim and Marjorie Hale
Eugene Atkinson Store, Alleghany Springs, originally owned by W.W. Likens and James Sisson
