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The Mast Store Story - In operation since 1883, the Mast Store has not changed all that much with the times - it still offers the down-home feeling commonly associated with a country general store to both its local regulars and its many visitors from all over the world.
An Historic District Away from Urban Clutter - Valle Crucis became the state's first rural historic district in 1990. Within the boundaries of the district stand many structures that were important to the development of Watauga County and the North Carolina mountains.
The Valle Crucis Post Office - Shortly after John and Faye Cooper acquired the store, the Valle Crucis Post Office, which is located in the corner of the original store's front room and is complete with antique boxes and postal window, re-opened and gave the community back its identity. Many rural communities - their names and their identities - across the country have been lost when their post office branches have been consolidated with other surrounding larger centers. A special agreement was entered into by the Coopers and the US Postal Service for the operation of the Valle Crucis Post Office.
The Coopers Come to the Mountains - John and Faye Cooper left their home and many of their possessions in St. Petersburg, Florida to take a chance at saving a mountain landmark. They lived on the third floor of the original store for several years (cramped quarters for a family of four) and performed most of the duties for running the store themselves.
Pot-bellied Stove: Local Hang Out and Tourist Conversation Piece - The early mornings still belong to the locals . . . and second homers in the area. Conversations over a 5¢ cup of coffee around the pot-bellied stove can range from a new baby in the valley or how the crops to are doing to friendly arguments over politics and "the one that got away" and other tall tales. When tourists begin pouring in, the conversation changes to topics like "I remember my grandfather having . . . ," and "I haven't seen these in years."
Mast Store Supports Local Cottage Industries - Many residents in the surrounding area utilize the Mast Store as a venue to market their handiwork. Talents showcased include breadmaking, birdhouse building, basket weaving, hand-painted thimbles and Christmas ornaments, general crafts, gout rockers, cornhusk dolls, and herbal cure alls.
Contact: Sheri Moretz, Public Relations, Mast General Store, Highway 194, Valle Crucis, NC 28691, 828-963-6511, Fax - 828-963-1883.
Short History
The Mast General Store began as the Taylor Store in 1883. W. W. Mast bought half interest in the retail establishment in 1897 and then in 1913 purchased the remaining half of the enterprise. The store remained in the Mast Family for some 60 years and developed quite a reputation across the mountain region as the store that had everything.
It was sold in the early 70s to a doctor in Atlanta and a professor at the local university, Appalachian State University. They owned it until it was purchased in 1979 by John and Faye Cooper, whose efforts have brought new life to this National Historic Landmark. In 1996, the Mast Store became an employee-owned company. With its beginnings in the small, rural community of Valle Crucis, the Mast Store has expanded to include locations in Boone, Waynesville, Hendersonville, and Asheville, North Carolina, Greenville, South Carolina, and Knoxville, Tennessee. All stores are in buildings ranging in age from 1883 to 1945.
More information may be found on the Mast Store History page.
The Rural Historic District
The Original Mast General Store is located in the countryside of Valle Crucis, North Carolina's first and only Rural Historic District. This quaint mountain valley has remained relatively unchanged since the turn of the century, the 20th century, when it boasted two general stores within 2/10s of a mile of each other, a bank, the county's first hospital, the county's first car dealership, and a garage to work on visitors' autos.
The community draws its name from the influence of an Episcopal missionary who traveled to these secluded mountains in 1842 to begin a mission that later became the first monastic order in the Anglican (Episcopal) Church established after the Reformation. Bishop Levi Silliman Ives was taken by the lush beauty of the valley. One day, while gazing at the valley's floor, he noticed that a St. Andrew's Cross was formed by the confluence of three creek's and thusly bestowed the name Valle Crucis - Latin for Valley of the Cross.
Mast Store's other locations are along bustling mountain Main Streets in towns that have an interesting history all their own. Boone is named after Daniel Boone, who maintained a hunting cabin in the area. Waynesville is where the last shots of the Civil War were fired. Hendersonville is the home of "King Apple" and the festival held each year to celebrate mountain apples. Asheville is widely-known as the location of Biltmore Estate. Greenville is the home of "Shoeless Joe Jackson." Knoxville boasts the first institution of higher learning in America with its non-denominational status guaranteed by law.??
Hours?
Original Store in Valle Crucis: 7 a.m. - 6:30 a.m. Monday - Saturday, 1 p.m. - 6 p.m. Sunday ?Annex in Valle Crucis: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday - Saturday, 1 p.m. - 6 p.m. Sunday ?Boone, Waynesville and Hendersonville: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday - Saturday, noon - 5 p.m. Sunday?Asheville: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday - Thursday, 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, noon - 5 p.m. Sunday?Greenville, SC is open 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and noon until 5 p.m on Sunday.?Knoxville, TN is open 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday - Wednesday, 10 a.m .until 9 p.m. on Thursday through Saturday, and noon until 5 p.m on Sunday. ?** Winter Hours will vary slightly and run from mid January until late April.??
Valle Crucis Post Office
The community of Valle Crucis lost its post office in the mid 70s. It is very important to those living in small, rural communities to have their post offices remain in service in order to keep their community's name and identity alive. Postal service was restored in 1980. The Mast Store runs its rural substation of the Banner Elk Post Office. The Post Office has 280 antique mailboxes located in the corner of the store. It is the only way that you can get a true "Valle Crucis" address. Most services offered by the U.S. Postal Service are available in Valle Crucis.??
Preservation
In 1998, the Mast General Store won Preservation North Carolina's highest award - the L. Vincent Lowe, Jr. Business Award - given to the business that makes special efforts to assist and/or promote historic preservation in North Carolina.?
Products?
Items found in the store range from the hard-to-find part for your Aladdin Lamp to cast iron cookware to Amish Rockers and from traditional casual clothing from Woolrich and Pendleton to technical outerwear and camping gear from Mountain Hardwear, The North Face, Columbia, and Sierra Designs. The candy area features barrels overflowing with more than 500 favorites of today and yesterday. The Original Store in Valle Crucis can still take care of your feed needs, too - chicken scratch, bird feed, salt licks, etc.??
Buildings?
The Original Store - Valle Crucis, 1883, began as the Taylor Store, then Taylor & Mast Store, then W. W. Mast General Store?
The Mast Store Annex - Valle Crucis, 1909, began as the Watauga Supply Co., then the Valle Crucis Company, Inc. Later it became a furniture store then M & R Antiques, finally the Annex and Candy Barrel.?
Mast Store Old Boone Mercantile - Boone, 1913 & 1917, two buildings functioning as one, One of the buildings was the old "Peoples Bank" and the other was the original "Boone Drug." Later it became Hunt's Department Store and a series of restaurants and small shops.?
Mast Store Waynesville - circa 1935, was constructed as "The Toggery," an upscale clothing store.?
Mast Store Hendersonville - 1905, built during the Victorian period, it is our most ornate store. It began as Maxwell's Fancy Grocery and later became the first Winn-Dixie in Hendersonville. Other occupants included Potts 5 & 10¢, S. J. Harris Groceries, Freeze Drug Store and a meeting place for the Woodsmen of the World.?
Mast Store Asheville - 1945, was the old Fain's Department Store.?
Mast Store Greenville - 1898, remembered by most Greenvillians as the old "Meyers-Arnold Department Store."?
Mast Store Knoxville - 1998. The building was constructed after the 1897 fire that destroyed most of the 400 block where it is located. Its tenants have ranged from the McNulty Grocery Store to M.M. Newcomers Department Store to The Knox and finally White Stores Grocery. ??
Famous Visitors
Charles Kuralt, Don Shula, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Lloyd Bridges, Jerry Falwell, Gaylord Perry and Rusty Wallace.
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