Rogan’s store, which operated in the handsome two-story building on the corner of Main and Shelby Streets, dates back to the very early years of the 20th century. Mr. F. W. Rogan and his brother Paul offered at various times during the years they were in business a mixed line of furniture, dry goods, farm implements, confections, clothing, and fresh roasted peanuts. Mr. Rogan was a kindly man and a merchant and businessman of the old school who presented himself to his customers in a three-piece suit at all times of the year, even in the pre-air conditioning months of summer when the doors and windows were flung open in hopes of catching a breeze.
As was mentioned in a previous week, F. W. Rogan was one of Montevallo’s morticians and also ran an ambulance service. Ever the entrepreneur, in the early days of the college when young female students came to school and returned home by train, Mr. Rogan purchased a substantial delivery truck with which he operated a service that delivered baggage and trunks to and from the railroad depot at the beginning and end of each school year.
This recent photo (July 2018) shows how the old Rogan furniture store building at the corner of Main and Shelby Streets looks after getting an update to its facade.
The Rogans were gone from the building by 1972 but the Shelby Street side of the building still proclaimed the name of the former occupant.
This ad from an early Alabama Girls Industrial School yearbook gives you an idea of the types of items for sale at Rogan's store with an emphasis on its female student customers.
Thank you Clay Nordan, Vice President of the Montevallo Historical Society, for contributing this image and information!
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