History Knox readers came to the rescue again with further information about the small, mom-and-pop store, Kilkenney Groceries, pictured in last week’s column.
Kilkenney’s operated from the late 1800s until about 1915.
Ann Weisent-Page informed us about a large chunk of the building’s subsequent adventures:
“This building was purchased by my Aunt Kathleen Upham in the late 50’s or 60’s. Her sister Isabel Fowls lived upstairs (adorable 2 bedroom, 1 bath residence).
Her brother, Blaine ‘Kenneth’ Fowls operated it as a grocery store, including a full-service butcher shop into the late 80’s or early 90’s (Ken’s Market).
“When my Aunt Isabel (Bell) passed away in 1986, the upstairs was rented out to another person. I believe my aunt Kate sold it in the late 90’s to the church next door.
“There was a printer shop in there for a while and I believe the pastor of the church lived upstairs. I think it still belongs to the church and is used for storage. My aunt and uncle also owned Kilroy’s market on East Gambier Street until it was closed.”
Kilroy’s was another market often mentioned by readers.
“There were so many mom-and-pop markets like this in Mount Vernon,” Jeana Campolo wrote. “It seems every neighborhood had one and some had more.”
Dave Hill added, “We are all dating ourselves on this one going to Ken’s market as kids.”
Sandy Shultz Clutter mentioned one of the attractions of going to Ken’s.
“The market was open on Sunday when almost everything else was closed. We’d stop on the way home from Sunday school and Mom would let each of us get a few pieces of penny candy. (And it was the good stuff!)”
Several readers also talked about remembering Lucy Cline working in the store along with Ken.
That led to commenters detouring into the story of a time a car ran into Lucy Cline’s house back by Riverside Park, where there was apparently a tricky turn in the road.
Cynthia Marie noted that after Ken’s came a computer printer store, followed by an organic food market known as The Apothecary’s Jar, before the property was sold to an apostolic church.
The building has seen many uses in its life of at least 130 years. And much life is always found in the stories of the people who lived there, worked there, and remember going there.
Best of all on articles like this is seeing how many people cross paths in the comments: old friends, relatives who haven’t seen each other in ages.
Part of my delight with this column is in researching obscure historical stories, but another big part is the joy of giving folks a virtual Main Street where they can meet and share memories.
Memory is a vast and beautiful place that is rewarding to visit. Many thanks, this holiday weekend, for joining us on that journey!