Before 1900, Dr. Felix Horne, a doctor and surgeon in Old Town Union, owned a two-story mercantile store on the second lot behind the NW corner of Decatur Street and Jackson Road. His medical office and that of Dr. J.N. Whittle were located in the back of the store, which also housed apartments upstairs. Dr. Horne lived in the area of 606 E. Jackson Road, (River Birch today), just walking distance from his office.
As did so many others, when Union moved westward toward the railroad, Dr. Horne moved with them. He built a two-story home that was referred to as a “mansion” at 109 Jackson Road. (location of Union Service Station today). Across the street at 101 Bank St., he had a livery stable. The house burned in the late 1920s.
Aside from being a prominent doctor, he became very interested in the telephone and established the first telephone exchange in Union in 1905. In late Feb. 1914 at 2 a.m., a fire broke out on southwest Main Street, burning the office of Dr. Patridge and the Telephone Exchange Building. It was reopened on Bank Street in 1915 with John P. Tyner, manager. In 1916, Tyner charged 5 cents if a person used his neighbor’s telephone.
The town’s first telephone operator was Mrs. Evie Rue Stribling Clarke, a daughter of Sydney Stribling and mother of Kenny Clarke and the late Nan Clarke.
Around 1922, Lauren L. Majures bought Union Telephone Company, where he himself served as manager. Mae (wife of Joe) Henry became an operator and her brother L.N. Brown also worked for the company. In 1927, Majures expanded his business to the upstairs of 309 Bank St. Later that same year, it was sold to Mississippi Telephone Company. Then in 1932, Southern Bell bought the business, and in 1968, South Central Bell took over. Since that time, communication changes have been continual. In the mid 1990s, AT&T got the company and built a new building at 907 Jackson Road. At that time, the telephone exchange on Bank St. closed. In 1997, Mark and Sue Herrington, who owned the building at 309 Bank St., cleaned out the telephone office upstairs and remodeled it into an apartment that they rented.
I credit the information on Dr. Felix Horne to Adeline Cleveland Crosby, niece of Dr. Horne, in the May 23, 1984, Union Appeal. Here are this week’s questions:
•Do you remember who owned the Sport Shop, a café on Main St. in 1976, or where it was located?
• Do you remember R & H Auto Repair on Jackson Road around 1979?
• Do you know anyone who lived in this upstairs apartment that was formerly the telephone office?
