Parks’ General Store in Graysville, Ohio. (Credit: G.S. Hamilton)

By Ken Drenten

Parks’ General Store is a country store in southern Ohio that’s like taking a step back in time. You can find everything from pitchforks, hardware and seeds to cereal, old-fashioned chocolate drop candy, canned foods and staple items.

Only nine years after the Civil War and President Lincoln’s assassination, the little general store came into existence in a rural area of Monroe County — specifically, in Graysville, population 68 in 2022.

The store was built in 1874 by Jacob Krochett shortly after he married Elizabeth Knox. The general store was purchased in 1938 and run by Mary and Walter Parks for more than 50 years after that. After Walter’s death in 2000, Mary operated the store with the help of her children until 2007.

In its day, the general store was the hub of the little community, serving not only as a store but as a post office, library and community meeting place. 

Graysville, founded by Daniel Gray in 1835, is the only town in Washington Township. A covered bridge, the Foreaker Bridge, built in 1865, is located about three miles away on CR 40 spanning the Little Muskingum River.

Bill Parks, the third generation in the Parks family ownership, now runs the store and has kept it looking largely the way it did many years ago. 

The original white-painted shelves are still in the store, displaying new items for sale as well as antiques. Old calendars, vintage soda bottle openers, old photographs and advertisements are still posted on the store’s walls. The store’s original wooden floors are worn but swept and tidy, and an ancient, scarred wooden bench in front of a warm heating stove still provides a place to sit and visit.

The interior of Parks’ General Store. (Credit: G.S. Hamilton)

Indeed, a visit to the store is best when you have more than a rushed few minutes. It’s worth the time to browse around and listen to Bill tell about the store’s history and get a glimpse of what life was like many years ago.

(I have an admission to make — at the time I wrote this article, I had not yet been to Parks’ General Store. It’s an omission I hope to change as soon as possible!)

The store is located at 260 Rinard MIlls Road (SR 260) Graysville (740) 934-2224.

Ken Drenten is creator and editor of Dusty-Tires.com, a travel blog for out-of-the-ordinary places in Ohio.

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