Here is another addition to the growing collection of Old-Timey Store Photos. Three well dressed gentlemen stand in front of the counter of a general store.

Here is the image without the mat.

Written on the back, I believe, is “Clay Stimple’s store at Beaver”.

This one is a bit of a stumper. I did find a Stimple family of New Castle, Pennsylvania that seems a reasonable place to start. Despite my searches, however, I haven’t been able to connect any of the Stimples to the owning a general store.

Here is a tentative family tree of the Stimple family in question.

Some of the notable names on this tree are:

• Henry Clay Stimple (1844-1891) - died in Pittsburgh, PA

• Orien Clay Stimple (1875-1911) - died in New Castle, PA

• Henry Clay Stimple (1899-1955) - lived in New Castle, PA then moved to Indiana in the 1930s

I have found no other “Clay” Stimple mentions anywhere else in my Ancestry or newspaper searches. Beaver Street was indeed a main commercial road in New Castle, PA.

My guess on the year of the photo is about 1920. My focus is on the younger Henry Clay Stimple (1899-1955).

In the 1914 New Castle City Directory, Henry was listed as a “clerk” and lived at 734 Ridge. In the 1915 directory he again was listed as a clerk, but this time at “W J Quinn”, which was a grocery located at 744 Court. You can access and search these directories at POWER Library: PA Photos And Documents.

In 1916 Henry was again listed as a clerk at W. J. Quinn, and his brother, Frank, was listed as a “clerk”.

In the city directories from about 1918 until 1925 Henry Clay Stimple was listed as a working at the Tin Mill. During this time, Frank was listed in a few of the directories as working as a clerk at J. J. McCoy (e.g., in 1926-27).

Sometime in between 1930 and 1940 Henry moved to Gary, Indiana. On his World War II Draft Card Henry’s employer was listed as a C. I. S. Tin Mill in Gary.

Interestingly, Henry listed brother Frank as the person who will always know his address (item 7). AND, Frank’s address is listed as 2 N. Beaver St., New Castle, Pennsylvania. This is the only piece of information that I found connecting Henry Clay Stimple to Beaver Street, via his brother Frank in 1942.

Conversely, also in 1942 and on Beaver St., Frank lists his brother, Henry Clay, on his WW II Draft card. Frank is listed as unemployed.

As you can, many questions still remain.

• Do you think this store is connected to Henry Clary Stimple (1899-1955) or his family in New Castle, PA?

• If so, is one of them men in the photo him?

• If not, where do you think this store is?

• Is this the store of W. J. Quinn?

• Is this the store of J. J. McCoy?

I would love to see what you come up with! In the meantime, check out these other Old-Timey Store Photos: