By Colleen Nelson
When Dollar General built a store on the hill above Rogersville it looked like the 21st century had finally arrived in the western reaches of Greene County.
“I love it,” Thelma Jean “TJ” Savely tells me when I stop by her house to talk about all things West Greene. “When I go to church I can grab what I need without running to town.”
Nice to have that convenience back, I agree. A hundred years ago there were little general stores in every village that did just that, but they’ve all but disappeared. Lucky for Rogersville, there’s also still a place in town that does what Dollar General can’t do – be a place to gather, country store style.
It used to be Rush Grocery – it’s called Michelle’s Place now, but you can still come in and pour your own coffee, read the paper and talk to neighbors after church. Kids and their parents spill in after school for ice cream, snacks and a hoagie to take home on game night; pipe liners and drillers show up at every hour for something to eat, drink, smoke or chew. Lions Club brooms and garbage bags are for sale behind the counter and that great old photograph of Rogersville still hangs on the fireplace, watching over the tables where friends and neighbors come to eat.
When I stop by on Sunday after church I find former owner Gene Rush sitting at a table with his wife and neighbors, ready to tell me all about it.
The buildings in the foreground are no more and the road was cut to round the corner when the new bridge was put in. Some of the curves that once ran through the town of Clinton were removed from State Rt. 21 later, but for this photograph, according to Gene, blown up from an old postcard, that new road has yet to come. The year is 1907 and the steeple on the left is the newly built Rogersville Methodist Church. The steeple on the right is the Christian Church (1890 – 1923) that was removed sometime after this photograph was taken and rebuilt on the curve on the western end of town. It’s now called the Place of Grace. That right hand steeple is where Michelle’s Place is now.
You can get your own copy of this historic photograph if you purchase the 2020 Greene Connections Calendar. This year’s edition is full of wonderful moments in time, from Rogersville, Waynesburg and West Union to the hill above Old Town Carmichaels where kids are sledding. Every image is well worth framing. For more information contact Glenn Toothman at 412-559-0537.