BUILDING HISTORY
”GUM GENERAL STORE”

Step back in time and explore the history of the building that now houses Gum Store Studios. Known as the "C.A. Gum Department Store," this iconic structure was the neighborhood general store ran by Carl Gum, opening in 1930. A true one-stop shop, Mr. Gum's store offered an eclectic array of goods, ranging from every day groceries to essential school shoes. Notably, the store even had a unique feature—an underground chicken coop for a steady supply of fresh eggs. Customers would submit their orders to Mr. Gum and he would note them on a simple paper bag, and his employees would navigate the store and bring them to the counter, or you could have them delivered to your home. Gums store thrived and was a valuable part of the neighborhood until the early 1980s when it closed.

Long before Mr. Gum's enterprising venture, this land had its own stories to tell. It was once the property of Edmund Calwell, who owned the renowned Dry Creek Hotel and the surrounding 250 acres. The end of the Civil War saw changes in ownership and usage of the land. Calwell deeded a lot "adjacent to the lands of the White Sulphur Springs Company and adjacent to the lands of Edmund S. Calwell" to the Board of Education of White Sulphur Springs. This lot was earmarked for the construction of a one-room schoolhouse, which was built in 1874. The property's history took a legal twist with liens placed against it for a debt recorded in the Commonwealth of Virginia. (Calwell's debt may or may not have been settled, the records were destroyed in Richmond at the end of the war).  The liens were purchased by Alexander Mathews, a prominent Lewisburg banker, leading to a lawsuit that reached the newly established State Supreme Court of West Virginia. The court's judgment in 1884 favored Mathews, who subsequently sold the parcel, including the schoolhouse they already owned, back to the Board of Education for $350.

Fast forward to 1910, when a new school, the Bethune Graded School, was erected on the hill overlooking the creek and our current Gum Store Studios. This school provided education for generations of African Americans in White Sulphur Springs and was attended by Katherine Coleman Johnson of NASA (and Hidden Figures) fame. We plan to pay homage to this rich history with a historical marker and art garden marking the site of the original school.

We invite you to be a part of preserving this legacy by making donations for the historical marker and our art projects, both of which are eligible for tax deductions. For more information about our 501(c)3 status and how you can contribute, please click here.