ELIZABETH, Ind. (WDRB) -- A memorable piece of southern Indiana history lives on inside a small town general store.
1819 Mercantile co-owner Willard Haas (WDRB photo/March 4, 2024)
The 1819 Mercantile opened in the town of Elizabeth, in Harrison County, less than a year ago.
"Well, we have a little bit of everything," co-owner Willard Haas said. "From just groceries, to beer and wine."
The history of the property, however, goes back decades. It's been referred to as the "nerve center" for the small town.
"It keeps you from having to run all the way to New Albany or Corydon to get things that you might need in a spur of the moment," customer Diane Metz said.
Inside the store are sweaters from the old Elizabeth High School and walls holding signs of local businesses that closed long ago.
Despite the presence of groceries, full breakfast and lunch options, plus other goods, Haas and his business partner, Jimmy Basham, wanted a gathering place inside.
"He (Basham) liked the bar that was in Butt Drugs, so he wanted to try and find something that was close to that," Haas said.
Butt Drugs was an institution in the neighboring town of Corydon for more than 70 years before closing in 2023. In recent weeks, Basham was looking on Facebook Marketplace when he spotted that very soda bar from Butt Drugs.
Inside Corydon's infamous Butt Drugs, which closed in May 2023 after 71 years in business in southern Indiana. (WDRB photo)
Basham and Haas bought the old soda bar and installed it in their business, keeping the bar in Harrison County.
"I'm glad it stayed in the community," Metz said.
Before it was known as 1819 Mercantile, for about 40 years, a local family owned the business called Wilson's General Store.
The Wilsons bought the shop from another local family.
"You realize it actually wasn't as big as it seemed to be back then," Haas said.
Haas' father bought the store in the 1970s, but died shortly after. That left his mother with the responsibility of raising young children at their farm and running the general store.
This Courier Journal photo shows a young Willard Haas sweeping the stoop of his father's store in Elizabeth, Indiana, that he now owns, 1819 Mercantile. (WDRB photo/March 4, 2024)
"She knew she couldn't handle the farm, so she moved into the store," Haas said.
Haas, his mother, and siblings lived in a small apartment inside the same building as the shop, which was called Haas General Store.
After a few hard years, the Haas family sold the grocery in 1978. But Haas hoped to one day buy the building once again.
That opportunity finally came about five years after his mother died.
"It's good, it's good. I wish my mother could see it," Haas said. "I think that she would be really happy."
Haas and Basham have acquired several other pieces from the Butt Drugs property, including the soda fountain.
Haas said when news spread about the purchases, people started driving in from out of the area to see it for themselves.
He's thankful for all the curious visitors, but he remains focused on his neighbors.
"We've got a really good community here," he said. "We're very blessed."
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