Clinton’s Ben Franklin chain store forerunner

On Sept. 29, a reminder of Clinton’s past was mounted by an artist and his team on the front wall of the Hickman County Historical Society building on South Washington Street in Clinton.

Cecil Young, whose nickname “Peggy” was more familiar than his given name, opened a variety store with his father Otis on South Washington Street in 1936.

The store became the Ben Franklin and operated as a five and dime until it closed in 1982.

Old-timers remember five and dimes with great fondness.

Anything from sodas to sundries could be found at the five and dime store. The forerunner of Wal-Mart, the Ben Franklin carried arts, crafts and dry goods. The chain, established in 1877, now is a collection of franchises bearing the Ben Franklin name still have approximately 200 craft and 120 variety stores in the US.

Young’s Ben Franklin is immortalized in a mural by Paducah artist Rudy Holmes, www.rudyholmes.com Holmes has been an artist for over thirty years. His murals can be seen in Mayfield commemorating Merit Clothing Store and “Memories of Old Mayfield” on the Good News Bookstore, on E. South Street.

His first mural in Clinton depicts shoppers at the old Ben Franklin circa mid twentieth century.

Historian LaDonna Latham said that the store run at the time of the mural by Peggy Young and his wife, Mildred, was one of several located on that block of South Washington. Those with memories of a busier time in downtown small town America are familiar with the bustle that shops enjoyed in the their heyday.

Holmes was assisted by his brother, Ronnie, who spent a good part of his time on a ladder constructing a frame for the mural. Painted on Alucobond, a light aluminum composite metal created especially for architectural products, the mural will hold its color and shape for years to come.

Bringing the mural to life was the brainchild of Elizabeth Samuels and daughter Alisha, a student at Murray State. Alisha came up with the idea of a mural almost two years ago. Fundraising has been ongoing. The Mural for Hickman County fund continues to accept donations at First Community Bank in Clinton.

Peggy Young, a businessman, Clinton Bank board member and Clinton City Councilman, left a generous gift to his church, First United Methodist Church of Clinton.

The million dollar bequest built the Young Center.

The church annex hosts community meetings, school plays, dinners, showers, bible studies, music programs and Quest, an after school program that has served hundreds of Hickman County Elementary children since it began.

Young’s business is now remembered by all who drive through the one stop light in Clinton and his generosity serves Hickman County long after his five and dime store closed.