Built in 1883 (with the Annex building 2/10ths of a mile down the highway built in 1909), a trip to the Mast General Store is like taking a trip back to the Old South. Sitting on the back porch on a rocker, or a swing, drinking a soda from a real historic glass bottle, takes one back to the early 20th century . . . or even before. On a beautiful, pleasant, sunny day, you can picture what life was like back in the "old days" in the South.
Walking through the store, one also is taken back to the "old days". There is even the Valley Crucis post office in the store, complete with post office boxes for the town residents. While traversing the store, you see all kinds of the various dry goods one might find in an old general store, from household needs to clothes, personal care items to hiking and camping supplies, food supplies to candy. And ah, the candy. Both in the General Store, and the Annex, there is a wide range of the old candies you remember from childhood that you just don't seem to see any more: Necco wafers, candy lips, candy cigarettes, carmel bullseyes, jawbreakers, candy sticks of every flavor, rock candy, and the list goes on and on.
A visit to the Mast General Store not only takes you to a place listed on the National Historic Register, it takes you back to a time when life was a whole lot quieter and simpler. Grab a bottle of Grape Nehi, or whatever your favorite old soft drink is, sit down on the back porch, and enjoy watching the clouds pass by in sky.