The General Store
76 years of community, one building’s journey
The J.B. Mathis General Store, circa 1950 — Union Hill Road, Cherokee County
The Beginning
In 1950, J.B. Mathis — principal of Union Hill Elementary School and the community’s trusted local merchant — built a cement block general store on Union Hill Road. It was more than a shop. It was where neighbors gathered for provisions, caught up on local news, and shared the kind of unhurried conversation that held a rural community together.
The store was one of four that served the Union Hill crossroads — a community of scattered farms, two churches, and a school where Mathis himself was principal. In the rural South of the 1950s, the general store was the heartbeat of towns like this: part post office, part newsroom, part living room.
“My grandfather built this store to serve his neighbors. Seventy-six years later, John and I are opening these doors again — not just to serve great coffee, but to restore a gathering place this community deserves.”
— Lashelle Thompson, Co-owner & granddaughter of J.B. Mathis
The Archives
Original documents from the Union Hill community, circa 1950
These handwritten records and newspaper clippings survived more than seven decades in family collections. Together, they paint a vivid picture of a rural Georgia community on the cusp of transformation — and the man who helped lead it there.
★ “Community Clubs” — Union Hill
The moment captured in print: “Mr. J.B. Mathis, principal of the school and our local merchant, has recently moved into his new store… a cement block structure, which along with the new barn, garage, and plank fence, adds much attraction to our community.” Circled in red by a family member, this is the primary source that confirms the store’s origin.
Community Statistics — 1949 vs. 1950
A remarkable census of rural life: 22,910 quarts of food canned, 71 homes with running water (up from 58), 21 new refrigerators, 18 televisions, and $48,634 in building repairs. At the bottom, a handwritten note: “Telephones — 34 (dial system). Community was without telephone service until 1950.”
“Southern Bell Adds Union Hill to Phone Service”
The telephone committee — R.T. Coker, D.T. Johnston, Roy Crowe, J.B. Mathis, and Oscar Dangar — succeeded. Thirty-three homes received dial telephones on a six-circuit line. Before this, “there was no telephone nearer than Birmingham in Fulton County.”
Goals for 1950
An 11-point community improvement plan: get Bell Telephone installed, improve the school, equip Arbor Hill Church with new pews, sponsor a community fair, strengthen the 4-H Club, promote health screenings for every child, and “make our farms and homes more attractive and convenient.”
History of the Community
A handwritten account describes Union Hill as “located 10 miles S.E. of Canton, Ga. in Cherokee County adjoining Fulton County,” with two churches (Union Hill Methodist and Arbor Hill Baptist), a junior high with 4 teachers and 83 pupils, and a Community Club organized in 1949 that was “one of the three top winners in the County contest.”
“Asphalt Paving Begun on Union Hill Road”
Union Hill Road gets paved — “an important link with Atlanta markets” running through “the middle of the largest chicken raising sections of Georgia.” By the late 1950s, Cherokee County would earn the title “Poultry Capital of the World.”
More Than a Shopkeeper
J.B. Mathis wore many hats. He was the principal of Union Hill Elementary School — a community school with four teachers and 83 pupils that served as the educational anchor for families scattered across Cherokee County’s east side. In 1957, the school would be consolidated into the new Cherokee County system, but in 1950, it was still the heart of the community — and Mathis ran both the school and the store.
He also served on the telephone committee alongside R.T. Coker, D.T. Johnston, Roy Crowe, and Oscar Dangar. When the community organized its club in 1949, these five men went to work immediately — and Bell Telephone Co. agreed to build a six-circuit line from Alpharetta through Union Hill and into Hickory Flat. Before that, there was “no telephone nearer than Birmingham in Fulton County.”
“Southern Bell Adds Union Hill to Phone Service” — J.B. Mathis named on the telephone committee
Community statistics, 1949–1950 — a portrait of Union Hill in transition
The Heart of Union Hill
Union Hill was a rural crossroads 10 miles southeast of Canton where life moved to the rhythm of the seasons. Cotton had been the only money crop. No family kept more than one milk cow and one hog. Two churches — Union Hill Methodist and Arbor Hill Baptist — anchored the spiritual life of the community.
But by 1950, transformation was underway. Broiler production and livestock replaced cotton farming. The red hills and gullies were “becoming green rolling fields.” Electricity reached every home. And Cherokee County was on its way to earning the title “Poultry Capital of the World” — with Union Hill Road running through the middle of the largest chicken raising sections of Georgia.
The J.B. Mathis General Store was one of four community stores that once supplied the Union Hill community — a crossroads where families gathered for provisions, news, and neighborly connection. Today, We2Friends Coffeehouse carries that tradition forward, one cup and conversation at a time.
The Restoration
Rebuilt with the same care that built it
The general store before restoration — abandoned and overgrown, but the bones were still good
After decades of sitting empty, the building that J.B. Mathis built with his own hands was weathering and forgotten — its roof deteriorating, its windows dark, its porch silent.
But Lashelle Thompson saw what others didn’t: her grandfather’s legacy still standing. In 2018, she and John began the careful work of restoring it — preserving the bones of the original 1950 cement block structure while breathing new life into every detail.
Working with River Mist Wood Company and builder Eric Mims, Cherokee County craftspeople contributed to every phase — from reclaimed wood interiors to hand-restored windows — ensuring the building’s character was preserved, not replaced.
Before the restoration — the bones were still good, but it took vision to see what this building could become again
Historic Site Award
History Cherokee — 2024
On August 22, 2024, History Cherokee presented Lashelle and John Thompson with the Historic Site Award at the Annual Historic Preservation Awards Banquet, held at The Bluffs Conference Center in Canton, Georgia.
The award recognizes the Thompsons’ dedication to preserving the historic integrity of the Mathis-Thompson General Store building — a structure Lashelle’s grandfather, J.B. Mathis, built in 1950.
History Cherokee →Then & Now
1950
J.B. Mathis opens his general store on Union Hill Road — a cement block building with a gas pump, barn, and plank fence.
2026
We2Friends Coffeehouse opens its doors on June 10, 2026 — preserving the building’s soul while welcoming a new generation.
Visit the Store That Started It All
Pull up a chair on the porch — the coffee’s fresh and the door’s always open