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Liberty, KY still has downtown shoe sales 2017-01-15 - Boot & Shoe Station, 646 Campbellsville St, Liberty, KY 42539 - Photo by Linda Waggener, ColumbiaMagazine.com photo(c). Something which still is in Liberty, KY and is only a memory in so many other county seat towns: a place to buy shoes. Many out-of-warranty Columbians can remember a time when a new pair of shoes was available in every quadrant of the square - When Marshall's sold only shoes, when a full line of Turson shoes from Dollar General Corporation and Nunn-Bush top of the line shoes were sold in Delmer Upchurch's Russell & Co., when the Herb Taylor's Men's Shop sold a full line of shoes, including Florsheim wing tips, and Hattie Lee Willis' Hat Shop sold women's shoes; Roy Owen's mens store sold shoes, Rudy's Lad & Dad, likewise; when Lerman's Department store had shoes for everyone, every age, in it's mezzanine and other locations; when Wooten's on the Well Walk offered shoes, and Mr. Royse's Army Surplus, also there, footwear; then there were shoes at the Paul & Mabel Jones' Style Shop, and Pickett's had a new and used store here. They may not have been open at the same time as all these, but Columbia had two downtown shoe repair shops, Amly Royse's, on the North Walk off the Square, and Mr. Lawless' shoe repair shop on the square. Shoe shines were available in Travis Scott's Barber Shop, at the Hotel Barber Shop, and inside Hugh Thomas and Berley Young's shop, the Maupin Barber Shop. Just off the Square on Jamestown and Burkesville Streets, were places to buy shoes as well. Today, there are none of these establishments in Downtown Columbia. So it's great to see the Boot and Shoe Station in Casey County. In those days, five & six decades ago, shoes were not only still made in America, Kentucky was manufacturing them too. There may have been local craftsmen who could make bespoke shoes to order, but my pocketbook never got higher than an occasional pair of Bass Weejuns. - EW Permalink | Comments?

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