Site of Worthy Store

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Site of Worthy Store in Freestone County. Now settle in, because this is the kind of story that starts with one man and a general store and just keeps on growing. In 1906, a man named Dillard Monroe Worthy, Alabama native, planted himself at this very location and opened a general merchandise store.

And when we say general merchandise, we mean it. Farming materials, a butcher shop, a blacksmith shop, funeral supplies, lumber. If you lived around Donie and you needed something, D.M.

Worthy probably had it. After a while, his son Roy joined him, and the business got a proper name to match its size: D.M. Worthy and Son.

Now Dillard Monroe Worthy was not the kind of man to stop at one good idea. He served as the first president of Guaranty State Bank, which later became Donie State Bank. He opened other businesses.

And here is the part that takes some doing: he was instrumental in bringing a spur track of the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway in near Donie. A railroad spur. That is not a small thing for a community, and Worthy made it happen.

But 1930 came, and D.M. Worthy passed away, and the store closed not long after. You might think that was the end.

It wasn't. Roy Worthy reopened the store in 1939, and it kept on running. Roy died in 1956, and still the store held on for several more years.

Then it burned. Just like that, the building was gone. But the marker stands right here, making sure that a man from Alabama who built something worth remembering in Freestone County doesn't get forgotten.

What the marker says

At this location in 1906, Alabama native Dillard Monroe Worthy opened a general merchandise store. He was later joined by his son, Roy, and the business became D.M. Worthy & Son. It provided residents with essential items and included farming materials, butcher and blacksmith shops, funeral supplies and lumber. D.M. Worthy had other interests as well, serving as first president of Guaranty State Bank (later Donie State Bank) and opening other businesses. He was also instrumental in bringing a spur track of the Trinity & Brazos Valley Railway near Donie. The store closed soon after he passed away in 1930, but Roy reopened it in 1939. Roy Worthy died in 1956, and the store remained in operation for several more years before it burned. (2007)