Last month, the Stephens home in Wicomico Church was removed from the landscape. The house had been the residence of the family that originally operated the country store later known as the Corner Market at the crossroads in the village.
In the century-plus of the store’s existence, the tenure of the Conley family remains its longest operating ownership. Snooks and Sam Conley had operated a smaller store across the road, when the opportunity opened for them to buy the Stephens store, thereby greatly expanding their business.
Initially, they lived on the second floor, where their son Roy was born in 1937, until they built a Wakefield-style neo-colonial home a short distance down the road. The Conley tenure, which lasted for over 40 years, remains unforgettable for those who lived in the area during that period. Their business was the quintessential country store.
Outside, they sold Texaco gasoline and kerosene. Inside, they offered a vast variety of foods, household items, produce and beverages. In the front of the store, looking out past the gas pumps onto Route 200 they provided two booths where patrons could sit to eat a sandwich or have a drink.
The place was spotless. When not waiting on customers, Snooks would take cans off the shelf to dust their tops, which never got dusty, but she had to be certain that they met her standard of cleanliness. True to the old way of doing things, when a customer bought an item over the counter, they would ask, “Do you have milk? Bread? Anything else you need?”
During the winter months, they would keep a small supply of tomatoes and other fresh fruits and vegetables on hand for sale, but once the growing season had arrived, and Sam’s magnificent garden had begun producing, the home-grown tomatoes were not on display, but rather given away freely as long as they lasted.
In the process, they built a large contingent of loyal patrons. Snooks also would have occasional items she had prepared or canned—she would say “preserved”—available to give to especially faithful customers. Order in all forms was important to both of them. Once I saw a man lean against one of the pillars and bend his knee with his shoe against it. Sam said nothing, but the look on his face was all that was needed. Immediately, the man’s foot hit the floor.
The store had an ABC license for on and off premises sales. In the evenings, some of the locals would stop to have a beer sitting at the booth, regaling the come-heres with their political philosophies and tales of “how it used to be.” All these decades later, I often think of what they would be saying today.
Their conversations were quite perceptive, demonstrating a sound knowledge of local, national and world affairs. The regular customers knew what was going on, and enjoyed telling each other, and anyone else who would listen, what they thought of the topics at hand.
As the years passed, and Snooks’ health began to decline, she and Sam decided to sell the store and retire. Finding a buyer took some time, but in 1976 Norman and Rio Sprague bought the property, and the sign changed from “S. G. Conley, General Merchandise” to “The Corner Market.” An era ended, and a new one began.
Fortunately, today the store remains, in its latest iteration known as the Northern Neck Crab Shack, at a time when many of our local country stores have been removed to be replaced by modern convenience stores, serviceable, but devoid of the authentic atmosphere of past times when their predecessors served as gathering hubs for local communities, keeping the residents aware of the news of the day, and linking us to a significant part of our history.
