SUMTER COUNTY, S.C. — David Miller, a native of Horatio, remembers watching his dad come visit the historic LeNoir Store with friends.
"They would come here, sit down, get a Coke," Miller said. "Been coming to this store practically all my life.... It bring back a lot of memories."
It was a meeting place for people then and remains a central part of the community today, but, after more than two centuries in operation, the store has aged.
Last year, a Sumter couple, William and Sherry Drawdy, stopped in and made it their goal to restore it.
"Looking inside, you can tell that it was in really rough shape," William Drawdy said.
They spoke with the owners and struck up a deal to make some improvements.
"We've tried bringing it back for the older generation to still have a place to come and see their childhood memories," he said.
Since then, they've added food and market items, candies, to give the traditional look, and they're working to build a kitchen and restore the gas pumps outside to working condition.
"It's been an uphill struggle. Everyday, it's been a struggle, but the good Lord brought us here and we're going to keep trusting in him to keep leading us down the path that we need to be going down," he said.
The store is located at 3240 Horatio Hagood Road in Horatio. It's open Monday-Friday during normal business hours and also Saturday from 8 to 6 PM.
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