Several people have asked me about the historic building in White Springs which houses Suwannee Hardware on the corner of Bridge Street and US Highway 41. The building was constructed by the late Sophia Jane Adams Broward in the early 1890s and was known many years as Adams Brothers, Inc. Broward's husband, the late Captain Robert Watkins Adams, who was a hero of the Confederacy, was wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg and imprisoned in a Federal prisoner of war camp, was not a well man when he returned to White Springs, Fla., after the War Between the States. Due to harsh conditions of the prison camp, he lost some of his limbs to frost bite and exposure to the elements. He established the Adams Store in White Springs near the site where the former White Springs Public Library is situated, formerly the residence and studio of Merri Belland McKenzie and, before that, Delegals Station. Captain Adams died about 1890 and his widow Sophia Jane Broward Adams had the present Adams Brothers building constructed. Adams Brothers was operated for many years by one of Mrs. Adams's sons, the late Nathaniel "Nat" Adams, until his death in 1937. As he had no children, he turned over the proprietorship of the store to his nephew and niece, the late Mr. and Mrs. Watkins Adams Saunders, Sr. They operated the store until about 1960. Adams Brothers was a General Store that sold everything from ten-penny nails to caskets during a day when transportation was limited and north central Florida was an agrarian society. The Saunders family retained ownership until about a decade ago when the store was purchased by Raymond "Raymee" Cheshire, a businessman and entrepreneur from Tampa, whose father was born and raised in White Springs. Raymond Cheshire did much to restore the historic edifice and leased space to Don and Ann Wilson who operate the Suwannee Hardware Store at present. Behind the store is a set if operable cotton scales where farmers with wagons loaded with cotton could have their cotton weighed and purchased at Adams Brothers or put towards credit in the store. It is noteworthy and interesting that the store has now been standing for 131 years. Ann and Don do an outstanding job serving people of our area at this historic site. We appreciate them. I would also like to extend a birthday wish to my mother, Mary Lou Taylor Bullard. Happy 91st birthday, Mama. I love you. From the Eight Mile Still on the Woodpecker Route north of White Springs, wishing you a good week.
