Dear List,   My distant cousin, Lisa, sent me the article below.  I'm forwarding it to the list for Ruth Sprowls and anyone else researching that surname.   Carole       <http://www.observer-reporter.com/or/story11/11-21-2011-SPROWLS-HARDWARE-ANNIVERSARY-w-PIX---MON-BIZ> A Main Street staple At 120, Claysville's Sprowls Hardware has drawn farmers, homeowners and a president By Michael Bradwell Business editor mbradwell@observer-reporter.com This article has been read 807 times When George B. Sprowls Sr. decided to quit his job as a schoolteacher in February 1891, he already had a plan for launching what would become one of the area's most successful businesses for more than a century. Over the past 120 years, everyone from farmers to homeowners across Washington County's southwestern corner and as far away as Wheeling, W.Va., would come to depend upon what is known today as Sprowls Country Hardware as the supply hub for their projects, their pastimes and holiday gifts. It even hosted a brief visit by a U.S. president who stopped by to thank the owner for his political help. Sprowls' entrepreneurial efforts, which would for a time grow into three separate businesses, were passed on to his three sons, George Jr., Harry and Wray, and continues today with George Jr.'s son, Dick Sprowls, and Dick's two sons, Chris and Nick. When George Sprowls opened the store bearing his name with a $50 investment, agriculture was the big industry in Washington County, and farmers were the first customers he targeted with buggies and carriages. "For 60 years, a third of the people who came through the door were farmers," said Dick, 83, during a recent interview in his Donegal Township home. He noted that when his grandfather began offering hardware, a plowshare was $2 and a pound of nails was a nickel. An entrepreneur's touch But George Sprowls Sr. was also adept at attracting other customers. "He was a promoter par excellence," Dick said, recalling a decades-long tradition of the annual "Sprowls Big Party" when everyone from the area was invited to the store for food, beverages and prizes - an early way of rewarding loyal customers and attracting new ones. Sprowls followed in the 1900s with a separate Claysville business, Sprowls City Garage, that offered some of the area's first automobiles, and for a while held the mantle as the region's oldest Buick dealer. Back at the hardware store, he continued to build his farm implement and general merchandise offerings, including International Harvester machines, sporting goods, toys and household appliances. There was a shooting range in the basement for sighting in guns that were purchased there. When his three sons began joining the business, Sprowls changed its name to George B. Sprowls & Sons. His son George Sprowls Jr. joined the hardware business in 1921, and took over the business in 1941 when his father died. George Sr.'s son, Harry Sprowls, ran Sprowls City Garage, a dealership that in addition to Buicks also sold Fords and Pontiacs. A third son, Wray Sprowls, opened Washington Appliance, specializing in home appliances and commercial refrigeration. Sprowls also operated a store in Washington near the site of the present Vineyard Church from the early 1930s until 1941, when World War II broke out. A famous visitor While his promotional efforts and product lines grew, George Sprowls Sr. also served a term as a state legislator in the 1920s, and in the 1930s, was a Pennsylvania Democratic delegate, helping President Franklin D. Roosevelt win a nomination for a second term in 1936. Dick said his grandfather and Roosevelt became acquaintances, with a familiarity strong enough that in the fall of 1936, as FDR made his way across Pennsylvania on his re-election campaign, he made a singular stop in front of his grandfather's store. "He didn't stop anywhere else in the state," Dick said, recalling that Claysville schools were dismissed so students could see the president. Dick, who was 8 at the time, stood along Main Street to watch FDR's arrival. "The motorcade came into Claysville, and FDR was riding in an open touring car that stopped in front of the store," he said. "My grandfather came out and he and FDR shook hands and they stood at the front bumper of the car and talked for a few minutes, then the motorcade went on to Wheeling." After high school, Dick joined the Navy, and later enrolled in college in Illinois. "I never thought I'd see Claysville again," he said. But in his sophomore year in 1950, he was called home to run the hardware store when his father died. For decades, Dick said Sprowls Hardware considered Sears and Coen Oil to be its biggest competitors, until the advent of big box stores. The store has shifted along with consumer trends over the years, from offering television and radio repairs to providing insulation services during the energy crisis of the 1970s. Today, a major focus is chain saws and other outdoor power tools as well as wood stoves. Dick said the biggest challenge for a small-town business today is the sheer mobility of people. "The highway out there is our biggest competitor," he said, motioning in the direction of Interstate 70. Today, the hardware store is managed by his son Nick, while his son Chris runs Sprowls City Appliance in Washington. Dick said Sprowls tries to counter the big box stores through service. "We wait on customers as soon as they walk in the door, find out what they're looking for, and then let them browse," he said. "There's no waiting around for someone to wait on you."