The history of the Verbena Deramus Store (Community Correspondent)
Published 10:55 am Friday, July 17, 2015
The Deramus Store when it was first painted, or whitewashed, in Verbena. Some have speculated that D.I. Deramus, who died in 1914 at age 58, is the man standing in the center of the photo. (Contributed Photos)
For years, a well-known landmark in Verbena was the old Deramus Store.
This wooden, two-story building faced the railroad track and had been out of business for decades. But there was a time when this business was an important part of the local economy and the social life of Verbena.
In the 1880s, the store was owned by A.J. Brooks and supplied almost everything the people of the village and farmers from the surrounding area needed.
Farm equipment and supplies, clothing, groceries, coffins, and, according to some, even Haviland china could be purchased here. At some time in the 1890s, the store passed into the hands of D.I. Deramus.
Verbena was a thriving area in those days and supported not only the Deramus Store but a similar general mercantile store owned by the Gulledge family.
Stores of this sort were common all over the state, many operating in villages much smaller than turn-of-the-century Verbena.
Bobby and Odis Sherrill are brothers who are refurbishing a store in Verbena, near the site of the old Deramus store. The plan for the store is a sandwich shop and convenience store called Verbena Pocket Express.
They succeeded because transportation was difficult, cash was scarce, and people relied on local merchants for credit.
Farmers bought all they needed for farming, and their wives bought what they needed to run the household from the businessman who “carried” them until the crop was made and sold, sometimes to this same merchant.
When Deramus died in 1914, his oldest son, Irby, came home from college to run the family business.
The Deramuses owned a cotton gin and a mule lot, and some of the younger sons helped run the store.
Carolyn Deramus Cumbie tells of Verbena residents congregating on the store’s porch to visit and see the train come in. On Saturday nights, the store stayed open late, and the men gathered around to play dominoes and pass the time.
Mary Ann Deramus Yeargan remembers that her father, Irby, leased the building to the Gulledges after their store was hit by a tornado and later burned in about 1942. He then concentrated on his other business interests until his death in 1952.
When the old store finally closed, it sat idle for years until a young Verbena couple bought it around 1980.
Debbie Carmichael Rogers said that she and her husband, Mike Agee, weren’t sure what they wanted to do with the building other than preserve it.
The Historical Society used it for at least one of their Verbena Trade Days. Furnishings and some merchandise from the old days were still there, so the public could see a bit of Verbena’s past. Unfortunately, another tornado struck Verbena in January 1982, damaging the store, so the Agees tore it down and used some of the huge timbers in the construction of their house.
Ledgers from the old store still exist, telling us who bought what and for how much. But with today’s transportation and “portable credit” in the form of a card in your wallet, such stores have disappeared from little towns.
Yet Verbena is still here and even has a new store opening that owners Odis and Bobby Sherrill hope will meet the needs of today’s Verbena.
–Ola Taylor is a Community Correspondent for The Clanton Advertiser. She can be reached at olataylor@gmail.com.
