BLOCK 7 - Main Street Tour     Locate on map

This part of the old Ranger may have its share of empty buildings, 
but it somehow seems more intact and with fewer changes than other 
portions of the main drag. The first store is what was the town’s 
largest supermarket, Piggly Wiggly, that quaint name of another 
generation. Compared to all the mom-and-groceries about town, it 
seemed possible to find almost any item the discriminating cook 
might want to fix supper or dinner (the mid-day meal as it has 
always been in Texas). Plus for many years most likely shoppers 
were attracted by the offer of S & H Green Stamps that they might 
later redeem for special wants. Perhaps someone with a really good
memory can say when Piggly Wiggly became the Worth Food Mart.  For 
years it has been vacant, although there was a short-lived attempt 
at a computer store here. 
 
Next came Don Ervin’s Jewelry. Its proprietor was one of the 
badly burned survivors of the accident on Ranger Hill in 1941 that 
was recalled as we began this virtual journey. 

Johnson’s Appliance
Store stood next 
door, another local 
family doing business 
on Main. Then comes 
the spot where Dr. 
Marshall Jolly opened 
his optometry office. 
Perhaps it was in the 
same location where 
Mode O’ Day Dress Shop 
once stood. Approaching 
the end of the block, we 


will reach Ranger Auto Parts, whose proprietor Gaston Dixon bought it 
from J.J. Kelly, one of Ranger’s earliest mayors.  At one time the 
business on the corner of Marston was a Pontiac dealership that 
undoubtedly at one time sold the now classic Studebaker cars. Alas, 
its grandeur of a site for new cars later became instead a washeteria.
End Tour