Title
The Corner, 801 10th Street, 1949
Subject
Stores, Retail
Description
This photo shows The Corner, 801 10th Street (now Paul W. Bryant Drive) circa 1949, not long after its opening in 1945 by John Puryear and Bill Schuessler.
The following account was written by Tuscaloosa News Editorial Editor Ben Windham July 8, 2007:
John Puryear’s little drug/sundry store on 10th Street held the corner on cool in Tuscaloosa. In fact, that was the name of the place: The Corner. Future Gov. Albert Brewer worked the cash register. Near the jukebox, Joe Namath held court as young women stared, spellbound. E.O. Wilson, who would go on to win two Pulitzer Prizes, popped in regularly.
Back in 1945, it wasn’t much to begin with, just a little store on the margin of a big university campus. A cafe called Piping Hot had done business there before Paul Malone redeveloped the block, constructing a beauty parlor, a bookstore and the place that would become The Corner.
John Puryear and Bill Schuessler went into business together. “We didn’t know what to call it because 'Puryear-Schuessler’ just wasn’t going to get it. So a friend of his, Ruth Jones, said she’d been to Pennsylvania or somewhere and they had a place up there and it was called just The Corner. "So we said, 'Well, OK, we’ll name it 'The Corner,’ " Puryear says.
And it was a perfect, if casually conceived, name. Not only did it suit the store physically -- it was on a corner of 10th Street (now Paul W. Bryant Drive) -- but it also was one of the few stores of its kind that catered directly to the university community.
What really made The Corner cool for students was what Puryear calls “the money situation." “Banks in those days didn’t open until 10 o’clock and they closed at 2. Students didn’t have a chance to cash their checks. So we started doing that and it got to be a big business. It just drew customers like crazy."
The Corner became almost as much of a University of Alabama landmark as Denny Chimes. “We hired students whenever we could," Puryear says. “Albert Brewer worked in there. Through college. He was cashier, manager at night. He was a great guy. And when he got to be governor, the probate office was open here -- it was ’68 -- and he appointed me probate judge.”
Puryear didn’t have much political experience, except for a pre-war campus campaign against George C. Wallace for president of The Cotillion Club. But Puryear did know the law, and Brewer knew he had the people skills to handle the probate office. “I was there until ’78, when Hardy [McCollum] beat me," Puryear says. “And Hardy’s been there ever since."
His partner, Schuessler, had moved, so Puryear’s wife, Jane, managed The Corner during his years at the courthouse and later when he taught continuing legal education at the university. In 1982, Puryear’s son-in-law, Hugh Underwood, bought the business. He sold it to Lee Delchamps in 1987.
The Corner operated at the same location (801 Paul W. Bryant Drive) for almost 70 years until it closed. The building was demolished in 2013.
The following account was written by Tuscaloosa News Editorial Editor Ben Windham July 8, 2007:
John Puryear’s little drug/sundry store on 10th Street held the corner on cool in Tuscaloosa. In fact, that was the name of the place: The Corner. Future Gov. Albert Brewer worked the cash register. Near the jukebox, Joe Namath held court as young women stared, spellbound. E.O. Wilson, who would go on to win two Pulitzer Prizes, popped in regularly.
Back in 1945, it wasn’t much to begin with, just a little store on the margin of a big university campus. A cafe called Piping Hot had done business there before Paul Malone redeveloped the block, constructing a beauty parlor, a bookstore and the place that would become The Corner.
John Puryear and Bill Schuessler went into business together. “We didn’t know what to call it because 'Puryear-Schuessler’ just wasn’t going to get it. So a friend of his, Ruth Jones, said she’d been to Pennsylvania or somewhere and they had a place up there and it was called just The Corner. "So we said, 'Well, OK, we’ll name it 'The Corner,’ " Puryear says.
And it was a perfect, if casually conceived, name. Not only did it suit the store physically -- it was on a corner of 10th Street (now Paul W. Bryant Drive) -- but it also was one of the few stores of its kind that catered directly to the university community.
What really made The Corner cool for students was what Puryear calls “the money situation." “Banks in those days didn’t open until 10 o’clock and they closed at 2. Students didn’t have a chance to cash their checks. So we started doing that and it got to be a big business. It just drew customers like crazy."
The Corner became almost as much of a University of Alabama landmark as Denny Chimes. “We hired students whenever we could," Puryear says. “Albert Brewer worked in there. Through college. He was cashier, manager at night. He was a great guy. And when he got to be governor, the probate office was open here -- it was ’68 -- and he appointed me probate judge.”
Puryear didn’t have much political experience, except for a pre-war campus campaign against George C. Wallace for president of The Cotillion Club. But Puryear did know the law, and Brewer knew he had the people skills to handle the probate office. “I was there until ’78, when Hardy [McCollum] beat me," Puryear says. “And Hardy’s been there ever since."
His partner, Schuessler, had moved, so Puryear’s wife, Jane, managed The Corner during his years at the courthouse and later when he taught continuing legal education at the university. In 1982, Puryear’s son-in-law, Hugh Underwood, bought the business. He sold it to Lee Delchamps in 1987.
The Corner operated at the same location (801 Paul W. Bryant Drive) for almost 70 years until it closed. The building was demolished in 2013.
Source
Tuscaloosa News Archive
Date
1949
Contributor
Brenda Harris (Description)
Type
Photograph
Identifier
822
Coverage
Tuscaloosa (AL)
Original Format
Photograph
Physical Dimensions
5 inches x 7 inches