On Highway 11/80, in a part of the Kewanee community that most would consider the middle of nowhere, the Simmons and Wright Store has been standing, and operating, for 124 years.

When the store was first constructed, there was no such thing as Highway 11/80, which was built in 1933. Instead, what is now the back of the store faced the Old Dixie Highway, which ran through Meridian all the way to Key West, Fla.

Only bits of the Old Dixie Highway remain in Lauderdale county, but the store is still whole and functional. Its owners, Gary and Janice Pickett, still use the original cash register and showcases. Mr. Pickett even has some of the original genes — the store has been in the Simmons family, of which he is a descendant, since the get-go.

Another original — the A.C. There isn’t one. But the store is well supplied with strategically placed fans to ease the sticky Mississippi heat.

“We tried to keep the original clerk,” Pickett joked, “but she passed away at 96.”

Even some of the things that aren’t original are certainly antique. The store is equipped with an old wood burning stove and still has an ancient bill printer that looks as if it weighs a ton.

They even have the accounting books from the 1920’s through the 70’s. “The depression years are the most interesting,” Pickett said. During the depression, many people would sell cotton to the store, which the owner would measure and purchase by the pound based on quality. Customers who built up a tab at the store during the ’30s would often try to pay it in cotton, Pickett said. If they couldn’t do that, their tab would sometimes roll over into the next year.

Pickett inherited the store from his aunt in 1998, but has only been working there since he retired from the logging business two years ago. His wife, Janice, has been running her antique business though the store for 12 years.

Pickett says he enjoys running the store. “It keeps the blood pressure down,” he said. “I like meeting people and talking to people, talking about politics and a little of everything.”

In the 1880s, Pickett said, Simmons and Wright was a kind of general store, similar to those seen in Westerns on film and television.

“There was no other store nearby,” he said, “so they sold all the basics you might need. It used to be the hub of the community.”

The store included a blacksmith shop, a grist mill for grinding corn and wheat, a cotton gin and a saw mill. Pickett said he hopes to make all of those things available for viewing someday.

It also carried groceries, clothing, and a variety of necessities for turn-of-the-century country life. The proprietors had huge stacks of catalogs, Pickett said, so they could order anything, like overalls in a certain size, that they didn’t have on hand in the store.

Now the store sells a variety of antiques, hardware, seed and feed, small farming equipment like shovels and hoes, and groceries similar to those that might be found in a convenience store. They also continue the sale of hoop cheese, which the store has provided for at least 100 years. They use the same cheese cutter, Pickett said, as they did when he was a small child.

Many interesting items are for sale in the store. They include everything from life-size inflatable Spiderman figures to unusual antique furniture. Some of the more interesting antiques include a wheelchair, several ancient-looking strollers from different periods in time, old manual typewriters, and record players of varying ages.

Along with other vintage garments, they sell a plethora of vintage shoes —everything from turn of the century ladies boots to 1950’s style “Golly Wogs” saddle shoes.

Simmons and Wright is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Customers who visit the store are likely to find the Picketts sitting in comfortable chairs near the entrance, happily talking with friends or neighbors about “a little bit of everything.”

The Simmons and Wright Company store was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in March 2008. It is located on the corner of Hwy. 11/80 and Kewanee Road.