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Over 55 Year Era coming to close: Adair Builders Supply, Inc. building

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By Ed Waggener

It was built in the early 1950's by Clyde and Anna Young and the store, Adair Builders Supply, Incorporated, brought a whole new concept to post World War II Columbia, KY.

It was a virtual Lowe's of the day, and if just remembered in the imagination, the mind would conjure up an enterprise bigger than a Lowe's, Home Depot, and Haskin Coomer's combined. Almost everything needed to build a house was here, even design and pattern assistance was there.



Along with it, there was a ready-mix cement plant, and, on the east end, a huge lumber shed. There was paint and hardware, nails and drywall, and advice on where to get a new kind of home financing from Taylor County Savings & Loan, with coupon books, low interest, and monthly payments lower than rent.

The Youngs had returned to Columbia with their only son, Darrell, after a stint in Paraguay, where Mr. Young was a consultant.

A lot of people got their start there or worked there over many years: Bertram Sneed, Titus Jessee, Carson Wheeler, Stick Harmon, Evelyn Phelps, and lots of others.

Now there's a police line around the building, as demolition and recycling starts to make way for a huge, by Columbia standards, CVS drug store. Several Buildings between the Circle R on Russell Road, Jamestown Street and enclosed by Carrie Bolin Drive are coming down, neighbors say, for the store, in a golden part of Columbia, within walking distance of Lindsey Wilson College.

Almost all of the land was, at one time or another, owned by the Youngs.

The gray building was the main launching vehicle for the most colorful era in advertising, when Edwin Russell Cundiff at WAIN radio and future Mayor Coy Downey advertised low cost furniture from "Squaredeal Downey." That name stuck with Columbia's most colorful Mayor - unless Mayor Walker narrowly wins the title - who went on to become for his time, the major real estate broker in Adair County.

Most recently, the building was owned by another titan of Columbia Business, Tommy Grider, a one-time partner of Squaredeal's in the real estate bidness - though it would be hard to say who was the protege of whom in that association.

This story overlooks a lot. But it gives an idea of what Jamestown Hill kids growing up and watching from Miss Hattie Eubank's locust, sweet pea, and daffodil covered cliff across the way had to watch in some of that half-century. Additional information will be appreciated. -ED WAGGENER


This story was posted on 2012-02-06 08:25:38
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Over 55 year era coming to close on Russell Road.



2012-02-06 - Russell Road, Columbia, KY - Photo by Ed Waggener. The old Adair Builders Supply, Inc. Building has quite a story to tell But it has stood on Russell Road for over half a century, with many landmark Columbia Busineses getting their starts here, many big names in retail began working at ABS, Inc. Now there's a police line around the building, as demolition and recycling starts to make way for a huge, by Columbia standards, CVS drug store.
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