“I had a lady come in here not long ago who looked around a while then said, ‘This is really going to be great when you get finished with it.’ Then I asked her, ‘What do you think this is?’ She said, ‘Well, I really don’t know,’ recalled Becky Card, owner of the Dunlap Mercantile and a driving force behind much of the Dunlap downtown revitalization and historic preservation efforts that are setting the town up as a “destination” spot.”
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The Mercantile is a number of things: a clothing store, soda fountain, coffee and snack bar, local history museum, music venue, event space, lodging for visiting artists, chapel and prayer room and even a place to get married. Once a month, it is a church. But to Becky Card, this is a “God thing.”
“It is a passion and a calling,” says Card. “I remember how much it hurt me when they tore the old depot down — all the history that was lost. I was young, but I hated it. Right then, I knew I didn’t want to see any more of our heritage destroyed. Now, I feel like preserving the history for the future, well, that’s on us — today’s residents. I grew up here, and my family has been here for generations. My husband, Lewie, is from Chattanooga but has owned property in Sequatchie County for over 30 years. We moved to Florida for a few years and were involved in a lot of philanthropic work down there, but I got to thinking I need to be back home, putting our resources back into the place where I grew up. The place we love. So, we moved back and began buying up some of the ‘shuttered’ buildings downtown. At that time, there were 12. Now that we have started working on bringing them back to life, they have all been bought, and plans for renovating them are in the works. Lewie and I have multiple buildings.”
“Cody McCarver has been our partner in all this from day one He grew up here, too, and with his love for local history and passion for preserving it combined with his experience in the music industry as a songwriter and recording artist, he is just the person we needed to take care of the musical side of this project. Since music is a big part of our heritage, we have included a musical element into each one of our renovations.”
“The whole project started with the Dunlap Mercantile building. It is the oldest building in Dunlap and the cornerstone of the downtown historic district. Built in 1894, it was sold in bankruptcy court a few years later after being damaged by a fire that destroyed most of the wooden buildings downtown. It was bought by the Payne family who ran it for 88 years before closing in the 1970s.”
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stained glass windows from a church in Chattanooga. “It
is amazing how many people have written their prayer
requests on these tags. We pray over them all and have
church here once a month,” says Becky Card.
“Originally, there was a stable for horses in the back of the building where we now have the prayer room and chapel. Later, the stable became an auto mechanic shop. Upstairs was Mr. Payne’s office and the business office for a cannery that was across the street near the depot. So there were three businesses running in this one building.”
“The building sat here empty, untouched for YEARS before we bought it. When we first went in, there was stuff everywhere! All of it was covered in dust and dirt and grime. The floor was pretty much gone. So, we have had to sift through all that to salvage the historical documents we found in here. There were drawers just stuffed full of old documents and newspaper clippings! Some date back to before the founding of the city of Dunlap — 1858, I think. One of the deeds I found went back to 1847. All of this is a part of our shared heritage, and we want to preserve it.”
“The neat thing about the building is that it has so many of the original fixtures. All the counters, nearly all the display shelves and what may be the oldest working elevator in Tennessee are all original to the store. We have fixed them up, and they are treasures. Even though we lost the floor and have had to replace it, we were lucky enough to salvage some of the wood. We had enough to build the stage and to reclaim and repurpose into three beautiful tables.”
“It is just amazing how this talented group of skilled artisans have pulled together to restore this treasure. There are so many people who are involved. All of us are local, working as a team with a desire to preserve this history. We have all been ‘hands on.’ I wouldn’t ask anyone to do something I wouldn’t do myself. Everyone has done an amazing job and has such pride in what we have accomplished together — a pride in Sequatchie County, which is something we hope will spread. I tell everyone that we started out with a crew and ended up with a family. This might be my dream, but it is not just my project; it is OUR project — we all feel an ownership. We couldn’t be happier with the outcome.”
“We wanted to give this jewel of a building back to the people of this area because this history belongs to all of us. Now we want people to use it. Of course, dealing with COVID has been a challenge. In a way, though, for us, it was a blessing. We had all these great craftsmen who were laid off because of the pandemic, so they were available to work with us. They have become so invested in the project they have stayed on for the duration.”
“Our aim with this project was to have you feel like you were stepping back in time when you walked through the doors. All our merchandise has a vintage feel to it, and much of it is handmade by local artisans. We have lots of historical documents and artifacts displayed throughout the building, and we have kept the building itself as historically accurate as possible. We are trying to get it on the National Register of Historic Places, so we are restoring fixtures rather than just replacing them.
“Now that this building is about finished, we are restoring another building as the ladies’ boutique Dolce in Dunlap. It is my all-pink tribute to my inspiration, Dolly Parton. Our ladies clothing line will be moved over there when it is finished. The store is right out the back door and next to our courtyard and fire pit — another place to play and listen to music. Also out the back door and across the street is the former restaurant and honky tonk bar that is being converted into a recording studio. Cody will run it — that’s his thing. Both the studio and boutique will feature country music themed Airbnb rentals upstairs.”
“Our open-air music venue and event space is called The Yard and has a railroad theme — a throwback to the days when the depot was across the street from the Mercantile. The building didn’t have a roof on it when we bought it, so it was perfect for an open-air venue. It is decorated to look like the old depot. We serve light food in the venue, but we also have a food truck that is parked near the courtyard that connects the buildings. The venue features live music Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.”
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“Plans are also in the works to renovate one of our buildings as an outfitter to cater to the outdoor activities popular in the Valley. Another may end up as a restaurant.”
“When we started, we figured this was about a five-year project. We are about halfway through with our buildings, and other local people have begun work on theirs. With these buildings and the Coke Ovens Museum and Harris Park just down the road, we hope that this whole area can become an arts and historical district — a place for locals and tourists to enjoy the area’s rich history, arts and music while bringing new businesses and income into the county. It is all coming together and gaining momentum. Everyone is so passionate about it. To us this is a testimony, a labor of love. It is what God called us to do.”