H. J. Smith's Sons General Merchandise

No visit to downtown Covington would be complete without stopping in the H. J. Smith's Sons General Merchandise store in the first block of Columbia Street, north of Boston St. It has just about anything a person could want in a hardware store, plus all the other items that range from army surplus to artistic metal sculptures. 

It's been there a long time, so long in fact that it is a key part of Covington History. And to prove it, there's a museum accompanying the business, a museum with a fascinating array of photographs, artifacts, farm items, household items, and, well, you will just have to go see for yourself. 

Here are some old photographs of the place more than 100 years ago.

 

 

 

You will find below a newspaper article from the Times Picayune in 1988 that gives you the rundown on the place, which has only gotten better with time. Click on the image of the article to see a larger version. 

And pictured below is a group portrait of the Smith family that I took on the front porch of their general merchandise store back in 1976.

 

The store has even appeared in a few movies shot in Covington

An old brochure describing the store and museum

To read a 2014 article about the store published on the NOLA.com website, CLICK HERE.