William Lafayette Shelley (1868-1953), son of Mark Shelley and Mary Jane Ronie Shelley, was a progressive farmer and entrepreneur in the Tumbleton community of Henry County, Alabama. Known in his family as “Papa Billy,” he influenced the county’s religious, educational, political, and banking life. He built this store near his home in 1911 as a cannery for vegetables and for peaches brought from Georgia, and his canned goods carried the Shelley label. After the cannery closed, the building became the Shelley General Store, a gathering place where tall tales were exchanged. In winter, men sat around the pot-bellied stove, shucked oysters, and pitched the hulls out the rear window, and a blacksmith shop stood next to the store. Dewey Shelley, a son of Billy Shelley, later operated the store. The store closed in 1932 and was then used for storage after Billy Shelley built a new store nearby. From 1978-83, the building housed Jo's Antiques, owned and operated by Jolaine Masters, a granddaughter of Billy Shelley. It was again used for storage until 1994, when the William (Billy) Lafayette Shelley family donated the Shelley General Store to the Dothan Landmarks Foundation.