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Between the years of 1915 and 1935,
the hardware store was owned and operated
by Ray McDonald, Chris Kuhlmann , John Chambers and
Marion Boster. Ward Comfort bought the stock
and rented the building in April 1935.
They paid twelve dollars a month rent
on the building and lived in the back
rooms and upstairs until about 1940, when
they bought the building. In 1944 they bought
the house next to the store to
the north and moved there. In 1940 they
ran the big store on the east side
of Main Street in partnership with Ward's brother,
Roy, for a year. Then they sold out. The groceries were
moved back across the street in Ward's building.
They continued to operate a grocery until the
spring of 1959, when they sold out and rented the building
to Everett Paynes They ran a store and post office there
until 1965 when Avis Comfort (Ward
passed away in 1964) bought the stock
and equipment from Dorothy Payne. Avis operated
a small store in the front of the
building, while Dorothy ran the post
office in the back. The night of July 18, 1973, the store
was struck by lightning and burned. Since that
time there has been no store in Wells.
The post office was then located in the block north on the east side of
the street. Dorothy Payne, Postmistress, retired in December 1976. Javene
(Sanders)Whitley is serving as Postmistress to the Wells comrnunity |
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