Valle Crucis

Valle Crucis' Mast General Store

On a cold, misty day last January, newlyweds Mark and Tammy Lusk sat in wooden rockers by a potbellied stove in the Original Mast General Store in Valle Crucis, N.C. Rocking and sipping sodas, they contemplated a tied game of bottle-cap checkers and wondered how many others before them had done the same.

From the looks of the checkerboard, there’ve been plenty: Its once-sharp edges have been worn smooth by the grip of anxious players; the faded dimensions of each square are just faintly visible above the sandy surface; and the game pieces, salvaged from decades-old cream sodas and root beers, are dinged and dented. This game is old, but like the store itself, still perfectly functional.

Mark, an architect from Asheville, had told his new wife all about the famed general store, with its creaky floorboards, cluttered shelves, peeling paint, and friendly clerks. He’d even told her about the chicken doors behind the registers—small slots for the live poultry previous generations of customers traded for groceries and farm tools.

“I can see why he’s always loved this place,” she said, inhaling the spicy, country ham-scented air. “This is real-life history, not fabricated. It’s authentic.”

That’s exactly what motivated John and Faye Cooper, owners since the 1970s, to purchase the 19th-century store, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. “They had to drag me out of there the first time I saw it,” John says. When the store was put on the market a year later—the first time its doors had closed since opening in 1883—the couple moved their family to the “Valley of the Cross” (“Valle Crucis” in Latin) and became shopkeepers, eventually converting four other North Carolina markets into Mast Stores.

“It makes us feel good to know we’re preserving something special for future generations while serving the present community,” John says. “Not only is this store a wonderful resource for the people who live here, it’s also great entertainment. Whenever anybody has visitors, they almost always take them on an outing to the Mast General Store.”

Charles Kuralt came by in the 1980s and was so taken with the place that he featured it on both his television show and in his book, Charles Kuralt’s America. He called the store “a destination,” and said if he could send someone to only one place to experience the soul of the South, he would send him to the Original Mast General Store.

Part of what appealed to Kuralt appeals to all visitors, both native and tourist: The Mast General Store is not a stagnant, museum-like operation; it’s an evolving, thriving mercantile, offering visitors both a glimpse of the past and a selection of high-quality goods they can use to improve their lives today.

It’s that combination of ambiance and value that attracts customers like Ed Tolliver, who travels from Statesville a couple hours away to shop at the store several times a year. “They have the stuff we want,” he says. “The good quality stuff.” His home burned in 1995, and he and his wife replaced almost everything with goods from the Mast Store—from Ransbottom pottery dishes to Amish furniture imported directly from Pennsylvania.

Indeed, almost anything anyone could ever need for home or farm is here, including a full range of food, clothing, toys, power tools, toiletries, animal feed, and more. But it’s not just what the store sells that makes it a unique shopping experience; it’s how. Barrels of aromatic gourmet coffee beans and bulk candy line the aisles. Jars of pure local honey glow golden in late afternoon sun. Original freezer-style coolers are stocked with bottled cold drinks. Fresh local bread, butter, and eggs in plain packaging are delivered regularly by enterprising neighbors. It’s a five-senses shopping experience.

Allen Mast, assistant store manager and grandson of the original owner, illustrates the store’s cradle-to-grave merchandising philosophy by pointing out an old wooden casket propped against a wall. Like many old items stashed around the store, it’s a leftover from previous product lines no longer relevant in the remote mountain community.

“People are still dying to be buried in it,” he says, chuckling at his well-rehearsed pun. “But it’s just for display.”

Kara Carden is a regular American Profile contributor.

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