Historic Happy Place

Story by Jen Calhoun

As a little girl, Marty Vaughan would often leave her house and march across the road to T.C. Lindsey & Co. General Store on a very important mission.

“I’d walk right up to the counter and say, ‘Tommo, I want a piece of candy,’” she says, laughing at the memory. “And Tommo — that’s what I called Mr. Lindsey — would pull out a piece of penny candy and put it in my hand. I thought I was just something else.”

But that was probably 7 decades ago. Things are different now. These days, Marty can get a piece of candy from the store anytime she likes. As one of the four owners of T.C. Lindsey & Co. General Store, she helps maintain the legacy of the fun-centric shop that’s been in business since 1847.

“As far as we know, we’re the oldest continuously operating country store in Texas,” says Marty, who co-owns the store with her sisters and a cousin. She’s part of the fourth generation of the Vaughan family to be associated with the business. Her nephew, Johnson Miller, the store’s general manager, is the fifth generation. His son, who works there, is 6th generation.

Pre-Civil War History

The company now known as T.C. Lindsey & Co. General Store began as a trading post in 1847 by Jonesville’s namesake, William Harrison Jones, two years after Texas became a state. The original store building was likely about a mile from its current location, which went up in 1922.

The Vaughans first became involved with the store after Jones sold out to James Estes. Estes entered into a silent partnership with Marty’s great-grandfather, Dr. S.F. Vaughan, a well-respected physician who later sold his interests in the store.

At some point in the store’s timeline, T.C. Lindsey bought it, giving it the name that stands today. Later on, Marty’s father, Tom Vaughan, and her uncle, Sam Vaughan, became owners.

Sit a Spell

Since the mid-20th century, the Vaughans have kept the place going, weathering massive changes in the retail world. The store once ran the town’s only cotton gin and housed the Jonesville post office. It sold farming equipment and feed, medicine and shoes. Now, it holds its own by focusing on its remarkable past and creating the kind of quirky shopping experience that draws locals and tourists alike. “We can’t compete with Walmart with our prices,” Marty says. “They get wholesale prices that are really low because they can buy so much.”

But when it comes to charm and an authentic experience, T.C. Lindsey & Co. wins hands down. “We have a lot of antiques on display on the walls,” she says, looking around the high-ceilinged space. “We sell Lodge cast iron cookware, Case knives and wind chimes, vintage-looking toys, specialty jams and jellies, old-fashioned candies, home made baskets, all kinds of different soft drinks, pottery and history books about the region.”

Sliced Cheese & Social Media

One of the biggest sellers at the store is the cheese. Marty says people come from miles around to buy hunks of cheddar cut straight from a giant cheese wheel. “We also sell it in 1-pound cylinders, but most people just like to have it sliced and wrapped,” Marty says. “Then they’ll get some summer sausage and crackers and a soft drink and go sit out in a rocking chair on the porch.”

Over the past few decades, the whitewashed building of T.C. Lindsey & Co. has appeared on several television shows and movies, including the 1985 remake of “The Long Hot Summer,” starring Don Johnson and Cybill Shepherd. The store has also been written up in many magazines and travelogues.

More recently, the store has gained a loyal following on a Facebook page Marty’s sister, and one of the co-owners, Lelia Vaughan, curates. “She just started the page and kept posting,” Marty says. “That’s something that really helped out. She tries to post every day, whether it’s little bits of our history or things we have available in the store. It’s our main source of advertising, and it works.”

But if newfangled ways help bring people into the store, it’s the old-fashioned warmth that keeps them coming back. “It’s hard to describe,” Marty says. “You just have to experience it for yourself.”

Experience Fun & History

T.C. Lindsey & Co. General Store has been a Jonesville tradition since 1847. The store serves as a walk back in time, but it also sells everything from salsas to cast iron cookery and cheese straight from the wheel. It is about 5 miles northwest of Waskom and a mile north of I-20. For updates, hours of operation and pictures of the store’s offerings, visit and like the T.C. Lindsey & Co. General Store Facebook page.