Silk Hope, 1959.

When we previously posted this photo, several people chimed in with info--a surprising amount. Turns out that some folks see a lot of history in this simple photo!

David Hobson talked with some lifelong Silk Hope residents about the photo and shared the following: "Bing" Buckner operated a Blacksmith Shop on the right side of photo near a Shell station not visible in the photo. Newton Woody had previously (not in 1959) operated a radio repair shop somewhere along the buildings on the right side. One resident remembered first seeing a tv with a small round screen in that shop. Someone thought there was a grain storage building somewhere along that side sometime. The Woody Cotton Gin was off to the right beyond this picture on now Silk Hope-Gum Springs Rd opposite the intersection of Mt Vernon-Hickory Mtn Rd - in today's SH VFD Station 7 parking area. Diesel engines or belt pulley from a tractor powered the cotton gin.

On the left was the AMOCO station with a series of different operators through the years. Folks were sure the chicken truck was poultry pioneer Clyde Reid Perry's first early 1952 or 1954 International 10 wheel truck with all live axles. The all live axles would help not getting "hung up" on muddy farm ground. 14-17 chickens would have been put in each coop, then loaded by hand - maybe 5,000 chickens in a load! If the driver came to a stop right at a traffic light, they would watch for the change of the light by looking at its reflection on the hood of the truck as they couldn't see through the stack of coops over the front of the truck. J. Aycock Perry who died in 1963, (Clyde Reid's father) was mentioned as operator of the feed mill on the left near the AMOCO station. Someone thought that the Petty family may have owned the building. The barn or farm shed in the distance beyond the curve in the road would have been at Ben & Lucy Ingle's farm probably started by Ben's dad, Joe Ingle. Today, Silk Hope Service, a convenience store with vehicle fuels, pizza, beverages, etc, is on the left and the Silk Hope Volunteer Fire Department Station #7 is on the right.

There's a lot of history in Silk Hope! Keep sharing it with us!

Thanks to David Hobson for his research. Photo from the CCHA collection.

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