From Moran’s Meat & Grocery to Willis Village Mart: They Grew and Modernized, but Kept Their Country Charm by Vickie Holt When most people think of Floyd, Virginia, they think of the became a center of growth. From 1914 to 1935, the Post Office could charming downtown district with its shops, music venues, and art be found in a corner of the store. Blue Ridge Bank also became part of galleries. But there is so much more to be found in the wider community the complex. Situated just up the hill from the little store, visitors could of the county. Floyd County contains the towns of Check, Copper Hill, walk along a plank sidewalk that extended from the street in front of Indian Valley, and Willis. Conduff ’s to the top of It’s in the town of the hill for their banking The Harmon’s Meats building. You can see Willis, Virginia, that S. needs. Eventually, even the sign of the Willis Village Mart on the left Peter Willis and Silas gas pumps were added. in the background where it was built behind Garrett Conduff got In 1953, Jimmie Harmon’s Meats and back from the road. together to open a general and Hilda Harmon store for the community. purchased the store and This was around 1883, and continued to carry most the wooden-built shop of the same merchandise could be found just about as Conduff. They even eleven miles southwest of kept the pennies that downtown Floyd along Conduff had put in the Floyd Highway South. cracks of the woodOriginally, this little plank floor near the community was called front counter. It was a Greasy Creek, but in 1880, conversation piece the the name was changed Harmons would enjoy to Hylton. This was to for the next twenty-five honor the Helton family years. Even though they who operated a store and sold the store in 1978, post office there. It was the Harmons are still a around this time, however, that the Willis family settled in the area part of Willis. Hilda and her daughters still live there. and began operating businesses in the community. Because of their In the years before that sale in 1978, a young couple were just influence, and because the Hylton Post Office was getting confused starting out together in life. Shirley Moran was working on an assembly with the Hilton Post Office in another part of Virginia, the name of the line at the Panel Sewing Machine factory. Her husband, Stanley, was town was changed to Willis in 1894. S. Peter Willis was a member of working on the assembly line at Valleydale Meats in Roanoke, Virginia. that influential family, and his partner, Silas G. Conduff, was the first Together with their new son, Stacy, the couple lived in a basement on postmaster under the town’s Willis name. Stanley’s mother’s property. At the time, the basement was built as After a few years, Conduff became the sole owner, and the store a first step toward creating a family home. Like all solid endeavors, served as a hub for folks in Willis. In the years before mass auto the Morans started from the ground, up, and for some time, lived ownership, towns and villages were far more isolated. Travelling the just in the grass-covered basement. Eventually, however, they saved eleven miles to downtown Floyd for food and supplies would have been enough money to build a first story on top. That’s when they heard that a large undertaking. But thanks to Conduff, folks and farmers in Willis Harmon’s store was up for sale. could purchase everything from harnesses to fine China, to clothes, In the spirit of entrepreneurship, and wanting the work for meat, groceries, and even dynamite! themselves instead of others, the Morans took a leap of faith. They In the following years, the little store by the highway in Willis were a very young couple with a very young son. It was a huge risk, but 8
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Fall/Winter 2021-2022
