Miss Becky's Store

Dryden Grocery opened at this location in 1915 and was owned and operated by the Dryden family until its purchase in 2003. Mrs. Rebecca Freeman Dryden ran the store, and because Dryden Grocery seemed too formal for such a homey place, patrons called it Miss Becky's. The one-room store's shelves were cluttered with miscellaneous staples, from soap and dish detergent to empty soda bottles and old lard tins used for salting fish. When she was not waiting on customers, Miss Becky sat in her rocking chair beside the coal stove reading or piecing quilts. Empty bushel baskets stacked in the corner were used to display fresh vegetables harvested from fields her son plowed and planted behind her farmhouse. After the purchase in 2003, the interior was completely renovated to its original appearance, with each shelf and counter carefully replaced in its original location.

Poquoson, Virginia · United States