E
ver been in an old building and
wished the walls could talk?
Well, old walls do talk; just ask
Carl and Christine Brodt. The Brodts
are transplants from Long Island, New
York. They came to Smith Mountain
Lake over 23 years ago. Like most of
us, they fell in love with the area and
bought right after spending a vacation
on the Lake.
Unlike most of us, however, along
with a condo, the retired couple bought
a business and a building that dates
back to 1857. It was not only an historic
building but a landmark. For years
the business was known as the Debo
Brothers General Merchandise. Along
with the store, the Brodts assumed
ownership of two outbuildings: a post
office and an ice house.
Christine has an antique shop in the
small white building behind the general
store that served as the Moneta Post
Office until 1903. It was called Jimbo’s
Post Office because that’s where Jim
Debo lived for several years. When
the Brodts started renovations on the
building, the walls began to talk and
revealed Jimbo’s secret – his love
for moonshine and hard liquor. Over
the years, Jimbo slipped his empties
behind loose boards in the wall, and
because of the balloon construction
they fell straight to the foundation. The
walls were “packed” with bottles, and
apparently, as the empties piled up,
there was less breakage.
“We got some real interesting old
bottles out of there,” Carl laughed,
“And some brown jugs too. I guess he
was trying to insulate the place.”
Today folks know the store as
Diamond Hill General Store & Garden
Center where there’s wine tasting every
Saturday afternoon from 1 to 4, and
you can dash in and find a last minute
gift, or meet friends for lunch, or get a
loaf of bread, or a bag of ice, or even
landscape plants and supplies.
Another secret the old post office
gave up was several old coffins, which
were stored within its four walls. No
one is exactly sure what the coffins were
doing there, but Christine speculates
that at one time the store might have
served as a funeral parlor for the nearby
church. One thing is certain: there were
a lot of things to truck away before
renovations could begin on the old
buildings.
Inside the store, Carl built a trap
door through the wood floors that he
said had layers and layers of linoleum,
tar paper, newspapers and even burlap
bags on them. The trap door leads
Walls Reveal
Secrets
By Kate Hofstetter
down to an old root cellar, where they
found three pickup truck loads of old
home canned fruits and vegetables
that needed to be hauled away to make
room for the beer Carl eventually
stored down there for resale. The root
cellar is still there under the wooden
floors, as are all the hand hewn beams
that support the structure.
“I’ve reinforced all the beams,”
Carl said, “but I left the original ones
in tact.”
The root cellar is under the old living
area of the house, which was attached
to the store. Debo’s living quarters
consisted of an apartment in the lower
level, that the Brodts renovated and
either rented out or used for family
members. It is storage space today.
What was once the upstairs living area
of the Debo’s is now the Wine Shop;
and the old Store is a display area for
gifts and crafts created by
artists. Christine is hoping
to add even more local art
now that the store has been
selected as one of the stops on
the Bedford Artisan Trail. She
already has some locally made
quilts, ceramics, jewelry and
hand painted wine glasses.
The Brodts also managed
to save the old ice house and
use it today for storage in the
Garden Center. Another Debo
by the name of Russell used
to live in the ice house. It is
believed he was the brother of
Jimbo, and they were likely
2nd generation to the original
owners.
William and Sally Debo
were the first owners of the
store. They ran it and the post
office until William’s death
in 1903. The couple had five
children: Mamie; William,
Jr; Harry; Mary “Lizzie”; and
Lillian. After William Sr’s
death, William Jr and his wife
Verna operated the store. It is
believed that William Jr was
also called Russell. They never had
children and their estate was owned
by Mrs. Debo at the time the Brodts
bought.
Diamond Hill General Store was
also featured in the local movie “Lake
Effects”. Most people didn’t know it,
though, because the name was changed
to that of a convenience store in
Roanoke. Apparently the movie makers
liked the look of the Diamond Hill
store but preferred a different name.
It ended up being a big inconvenience
(pardon the pun) for the Brodts, with
very little recognition for their store.
Unless you were familiar with the deli
you wouldn’t have realized it was the
Diamond Hill store.
The minister of Diamond Hill
Baptist Church is credited with coming
up with the name Diamond Hill. He
Store: (540) 297-9309
1017 Diamond Hill Rd., Moneta, VA 24121
Formerly Debo's Store since 1857!
Bedford Artisan Trail Site
Boars Head Deli
Happy Hour Specials in our Bistro!
Daily HomeBaked Goodies
Breakfast • Lunch • Dinner
Wine • Beer • Fine Cigars
&
G
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(540) 297-7009
Garden Center
Mulch, Landscape & Hardscape
Discover Smith Mountain Lake
Spring 2014
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