Heflins Store

Heflins Store, (aka Stover’s Store or Brawner’s Store), Blantyre Road, Little Georgetown, Virginia

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Heflins Store

Heflins Store is located in the village of Little Georgetown in Fauquier County, Virginia. The village developed in the early nineteenth century as a nucleus for milling and agriculture, based on the fast flowing waters of Broad Run. The early settlers to the area realized the potential of Broad Run and the upper and lower forks of its tributary, Trap Branch. By 1815 there were a dozen gristmills in the area, including Beverley Mill. The country store was built as an outlet for the produce from one of these mills.

Edgar Heflin, after whom the store is now named, was the third owner of the property. It was originally built by Abraham Stover. Stover brought his wife and three sons from Pennsylvania to Fauquier County in 1833. They purchased Trap Branch Mills. At the time there was no general store in the area. The nearest commercial activity was in Warrenton, which was over ten miles away. In 1845, Charles Stover, one of Abraham’s sons, hired stonemason John Fry to build a stone store house. It was to be situated in a triangle of land created by the major crossroads of the Thoroughfare Gap Road and the road from Georgetown to White Plains and Warrenton.

At the time, the products from Stover’s Mill as well as other neighborhood produce were carted to Alexandria for sale. The establishment of the general store allowed for better retail of Stover’s flour as well providing a local trading post for the community.

Stover’s German heritage and the ease of access to Bull Run Mountain stone influenced the unusual choice of masonry as the material for the construction (most buildings at this time were wooden). The rock, which Charles Stover personally hauled to the construction site, was laid in its quarried state rather than being dressed by hammer and chisel into regular shapes. The mortar entirely consisted of clay with little or no lime residue. This meant that the stone walls were always intended to receive stucco from the time of construction.

The general store served the village of Little Georgetown and the surrounding communities for more than a hundred years. It finally closed its doors in 1953. Throughout this time, Helfins Store has remained remarkably unchanged. The most recent refacing of the stucco has deliberately left some areas of the stone exposed to suggest aging. Apart from this, the building appears in very much the same condition as when it was an active country store.

Heflins Store was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. The majority of the information for this post has been taken from the Registration Form used to nominate the building.