Horne's / Florida Souvenierland Pecans Candies, 22103 US-301 Lawtey Florida: 2000s 26 comments
Usually when I come back from the Spring Hill Florida area, I take I-75 North to I-10 East and then I-95 North. On the 4th, I was making pretty good time on I-75 and looking at a map in the Paynes Prairie rest stop, I decided it would be more interesting to skip I-10 and take FL-40 to US-301 to FL-A1A to I-95.
I found this abandoned souvenier shop on US-301 just north of Lawtey Florida. My guess is that at one time it was a Stuckey's and then went independent after both traffic on US-301 and the Stuckey's chain declined. The building appears to date from 1961 and may have also had living quarters.
While a government pollution warning suggests that the place may have been called Florida Souvenierland at one time, currently the only identification is a huge sign proclaiming Pecans Candies.
The creepy and unusual thing about this site is that it is not empty. The store still appears packed to the gills with souveniers and I would not be surprised to find orange juice sludge still in the coolers. My best guess is that this place was a rapid and unexpected casualty of the 2008 crash, but it could have actually happened much before that. It would be fascinating to get a good look inside. However, while I am not above walking towards an abandoned building in such a manner as to make sure I don't pass by any "Posted" signs that might exist, it's pretty hard to claim that you didn't notice the barbed wire fencing off an area, so I made sure to stay outside that perimeter.
Oh, and note the SOU on the roadside sign and the NIR under the shed.
UPDATE 6 July 2016: Commenter Tom sends in this link, showing that this store was in fact a Horne's and not a Stuckey's. There are some very interesting pictures there, including of this store, and you should check it out. Also, I have added Horne's to the post title.
Also, note this picture I took through the windshield and against the sun, so it's not very good, but good enough to point out a salient fact about Lawtey, somewhat reminescent of the old story about Lester Maddox & Ludowici Georgia:
UPDATE 5 August 2020 -- Went by again on 19 July 2020. The Horne's nameplate is visible again due to the the sign shedding a layer, and some of the outbuildings and stuff in front of the store are gone, but the stock inside appears to still be largely intact:
26 Responses to 'Horne's / Florida Souvenierland Pecans Candies, 22103 US-301 Lawtey Florida: 2000s'
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Tom
6 Jul 16 at 7:00 am
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Whatever became of all of the Stuckey's?
Homer
6 Jul 16 at 9:04 am
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Homer, Stuckey's nearest locations are in Prosperity, Bishopville, Winnsboro, St. Matthews and Graniteville (and there are a few others such as Summerton, Walterboro, St. George, Gaffney, Enoree, Blacksburg, Inman, Latta and Hardeville).
There are plenty of others around but those are the main ones in South Carolina.
Andrew
6 Jul 16 at 9:37 am
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The Exxon on Piney Grove Rd. and I-26 was briefly a "Stuckey's Express."
Tom
6 Jul 16 at 7:57 pm
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That close, huh. I may have to find an excuse to look for one relatively nearby....
Homer
6 Jul 16 at 10:19 pm
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@Tom -- that is a great link. I will add Horne's to the post title.
@Homer -- At one time I heard that Stuckey's found they were running a marginally profitable business which happened to own a lot of very valuable Interstate exit property, and management decided the best value to shareholders would be to sell it. Something like that anyway. I think one of the Stuckey family was trying to get control of what was left and do a revamp of the business as an actual business.
One thing the have been doing in recent years is putting the Stuckey brand out there as a partner with other convenience stores. For instance there is a convenience store in Conway with a "Stuckey's" isle with Stuckey's branded snacks, and I think the same thing was true at one of the I-20/US-1 convience stores in Lexington too.
ted
6 Jul 16 at 11:12 pm
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Drive by this location many times since my Dad moved to the Tampa area in 2005. I could be wrong, but I think it was open the first few times we went down 301.
I was unaware that Horne's was a chain. There is a Horne's Restaurant in Pot Royal, Virginia near Fort A. P. Hill at the intersection of US 17 and US 301. The building looks very similar to this one. I wondered if it were part of the chain mentioned in the comments here, so I Googled it.
It appears Horne's was headquartered in Bayard, Florida. The owner actually worked for Stuckey's in his youth and made his own candy which he sold in the Stuckey's store before venturing out on his own. During the expansion, Horne's added motor lodges to their restaurants. Greyhound apparently bought out the company in the mid-1960s and the Port Royal, Virginia Horne's is the only remaining store.
James R.
7 Jul 16 at 1:13 am
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I'm pretty sure there was an old Horne's in Fayetteville NC that was running as a country buffett while I lived there in the late 80s, early 90s. Also think there may have been an old Horne's lodge building on US-1 in Augusta when I worked there.
You can see this building open (though not as Horne's) in pictures dated 2006 in the link Tom sent.
ted
7 Jul 16 at 1:32 am
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The Old "Jimmy Carter's" location (long since burned down) outside of Florence was originally a Horne's. Here were the other SC locations:
http://www.highwayhost.org/Hornes/Locations/SouthCarolina/southcarolina1.htm#top
Tom
7 Jul 16 at 6:17 am
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I remember that old Jimmy Carter's; some of the buildings are still there. @ted, that would make a good closings to do someday.
Justin
7 Jul 16 at 10:22 am
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I worked at Horne's Motor Lodge in Florence back in the late 1980s while attending college in Florence.......it became Park Inn International around Thanksgiving 1989. What a blast from my past!
scott johnson
21 Jul 16 at 10:16 pm
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Who owns this now?
Silesia Rogowski
25 Jul 20 at 2:51 pm
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No idea. It would be a public record, I guess, but I don't know if it is online anywhre.
ted
26 Jul 20 at 2:21 am
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I looked this up and it appears to be in Bradford County, FL so your best bet would be to see if you can find their online GIS map and that would be your best bet...
Andrew
26 Jul 20 at 3:22 pm
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I just passed by this location on August of 2020. I'll be posting shots of it on my Instagram: instagram.com/trevorcreative_photos/
Time has worn on this building, but it continues to stand. Most of the things are still on the shelves. There's some junk near the front door on the inside, but otherwise it doesn't look too destroyed or anything.
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Went to an Estate Sale there about 2 years ago! The place was amazing to go through! Bought a lot of old Florida Souvenirs and some Walt Disney iron on transfers for clothes! I think the place closed in the late 70’s. I always wanted to go in and look around. While driving by it one day going to Waldo, there was a Estate Sale going on. We even bought a old Anvil that was behind the building! Pretty amazing place but the smell was there since there was a lot of mold in the building. I would still go again if there was a othe sale going on, such a waste of things that should be sold
Patty Smart
15 Aug 20 at 5:18 pm
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I'm almost sure there was one of these located on route # 503 that goes in to Myrtle Beach S C. I can't think of the little town it was close to but back in the day that route had lots of souvenir stand and fireworks stores . I m going solely by the A Frame shape of the building and I first saw this in early 1980 going to Myrtle Beach and at that time it was called Jimmy Carters . Next trip to Myrtle was about 2006 and it was an adult book store . Building had been chopped down and hardly recognizable. Would love to see a picture of it from back in the day.
John M Adams
24 Nov 20 at 7:00 pm
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Here is Jimmy Carter's, which was a Horne's, but burned down and rebuilt before becoming the strip-club/adult-store.
ted
24 Nov 20 at 7:47 pm
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Love this! Thanks for sharing all that you did; I love your pics. Very interesting. And so weird how they still have so much merch, huh? I saw a conversation on Facebook just today where someone said they went in & purchased some of the stuff recently ... fascinating.
Jessie Redding
25 May 21 at 11:39 pm
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It does seem odd. I wonder if it's the case of kids who no longer live in the area inheriting the property or some such.
ted
26 May 21 at 8:36 am
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I'm 99% sure we shopped in here in the early 00's when I was at UF.
Kim
9 Oct 21 at 2:50 pm
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I am glad I found this information I had always wondered why there was still stuff in there. I would love a chance to walk through there almost like a museum.
Roberta Abbott
15 Jan 22 at 9:22 pm
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Closed around 2010, I remember my last trip in there like yesterday. There’s like a running lawtey rumor that the owner died in there and out of respects wanted his body to remain so they left it untouched. As of now in 2022 they’ve strategically placed a dozen old rare cars outside in a way where people will stop trying to get in!
Katelyn
21 Jan 22 at 4:17 pm
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Most stuff inside has been picked thru, the original owners grandson owns it now and he’s sold a few things from inside.
It’s not Notth of Lawtey, it’s just South of Lawtey on the north bound side of 301. The original owner also owned a gator that he kept in an enclosure towards the south side of the property. Someone leases it now and they’re storing old vehicles there nowLawtey Resident
27 Aug 22 at 4:56 pm
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12/17/23
We drive past here 6-8times per year from Savannah to Tampa. From the front window the contents look untouched. I always look for signs of life in and around the building. Would love a peek of the contents from the inside.
I don’t understand why the inventory hasn’t been sold. I’m ready to buy!!Karen Faulkner
17 Dec 23 at 4:25 pm
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12/17/23
We drive past here 6-8times per year from Savannah to Tampa. From the front window the contents look untouched. I always look for signs of life in and around the building. Would love a peek of the contents from the inside.Karen Faulkner
17 Dec 23 at 4:27 pm
Actually this was not a Stuckey's but a Horne's which was regional restaurant and motor lodge chain founded by a former Stuckey supplier. It became a cross between Stuckey's and Howard Johnson's. This link will show some photos of it in happier times.
http://www.highwayhost.org/Hornes/Locations/Florida/florida1.htm#StarkeLawtey