The building commonly known today as the old Victory Auto building that stands on the northwest corner of Main and Shelby Streets got its start shortly after the end of the Civil War when former Confederate Captain Henry Clay Reynolds came to town and opened a general mercantile business. Together with his son, W.B. Reynolds, they thrived and grew to the point where they also had stores in West Blocton and Centreville. Capt. Reynolds was the key promoter for locating the Alabama Girls Industrial School in Montevallo and became the school’s first president in 1896 when Miss Julia Tutwiler withdrew her acceptance of the position at the last minute. The Reynolds also owned and published the local newspaper, the Montevallo News, at the time of the founding of AGIS.
An interesting capsule biography of the rich and colorful life of H.C. Reynolds appears in the June 2021 edition of Chamber Chatter, a publication of the Montevallo Chamber of Commerce. It can be found in pdf format at www.historicmontevallo.org under the “Chatter Contributions” tab for 2021.
After the Reynolds business came to a close, the building became the home to Montevallo’s first Ford automobile dealership, Reid Motor Co. in the 1920’s. Since then, a variety of General Motors dealerships have followed in Reid’s footsteps. Among them were Montevallo Motor Co.; Ron Shafer Chevrolet; Carl Cannon Chevrolet; Ken Terry Chevrolet; Leach Pontiac GMC; and the most recent occupant, Victory Autos.
Today, the building remains unoccupied, but in 2019, the building was purchased by the City of Montevallo. The future of the Victory building remains uncertain at this point, but hopefully a new occupant will come along soon and install a business or service that will bring this important commercial icon on Main Street back to its former glory.
Thank you Clay Nordan, Vice President of Montevallo Historical Society, for this information!
Kommentarer