The Darby Family

The Darby Family. . , While most local men were employed in agriculture, Harry Clay Darby (1872-1954) was a businessman. After selling hardware in Washington, D.C., Darby returned to Montgomery County in 1907 where he became the Beallsville postmaster and built this store in 1910., In 1921, Darby and his wife, Katherine, constructed the Colonial Revival dwelling immediately adjacent to the store, moving their family from a simple frame house that was just up the road on Route 109. This stately dwelling was an indicator of Darby's thriving business. On the eve of the Great Depression, this house was appraised at $10,000, almost three times the value of the store building., Harry Dunbar Darby (1916-2003) followed his father's footsteps into the family business. He was employed as the store clerk when he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1941. Lacking staff to run the store and the supplies customers demanded, the elder Darby struggled to keep the store afloat during World War II. He told the Frederick News in 1942 "he had reluctantly come to the conclusion that he must either sell or curtail his business to the point where he will carry only a small stock of tobaccos, a few groceries and other light items." He chose the latter. Such a closure would have been problematic for local residents, as the Darby Store was the sole mercantile operation within a 2.5-mile radius of Beallsville. After his death in 1954, his son took ownership and kept the business running until the 1960s., Beall's Crossroads: "A Thriving Village" , This intersection was once busy with activity and commerce. Since the mid-1800s, there has been at least one store at this crossroads. The 27 acres Darby purchased in 1908 included several 19th-century structures including a blacksmith shop, store, and house which he ultimately demolished. Other services in this vicinity included a post office, Staub's grist mill, another blacksmith shop, and a wheelwright shop which was replaced in the early 20th century by a car garage and dealership featuring new advances in mechanized transportation.