Congleton Bros Set to Close After 103 Years in Business

    In 1921, Gentry Park Congleton decided he wanted to venture out on his own from his father, Hill Congleton’s timber business and open a Feed & Grain Store.

    Around 1925 or 1926, he purchased a building on Main Street (far right) in Beattyville that had once been a building for undertaking to set up his store; and since the building was already equipped with undertaking, he thought he would try his hand at that as well in the 1930’s.

    This location is the present home of Coy & Gilbert Law Firm, Middle Kentucky Community Action, and The Beattyville Enterprise offices.

    To this day, there are guidelines for preparing a body for burial hanging up on the wall in the equipment room of the building. (If you notice from the picture with the 1939 LaSalle Ambulance Bus, the windows say that Gentry, also, sold furniture, radios, refrigeration, and hardware along with his undertaking business. He was a man of many talents.)

As Gentry’s Feed & Grain store transitioned more into a hardware store in the 1930’s, he then went on to open Congleton Bros. Pacemaker Mine on Sturgeon Creek in the 1940’s.

   It serviced Lee Coun­ty with household coal all through the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s until it closed the mine in 1984. At one point, the mine employed up to 100 men in Lee County.

   After World War II, Truman Congleton, Gentry’s son, did book­keeping and was a pay master for his father’s businesses, making Truman the second gen­eration to be involved with the Congleton businesses.

   In 1955, Gentry and his brother Winford Hill Congleton changed the store name to Congle­ton Bros where they stayed on Main Street until 1995 when they moved the store to its present location on Highway 11 up on the big hill.

   Today, the store is operated by Truman’s son, Terry Congleton, who is the 3rd genera­tion and sadly, the last to run the business. Terry’s siblings Walter Park, Margaret Ann are still stockholders in Congleton Bros, but do not want to be involved in the day to day oper­ations of the business. Their brother “Big Ed” passed away several years ago.

   When Terry spoke of his grandfather, he said that his grandfa­ther, Gentry, was a man who believed in the communities of Beat­tyville and Lee County. Gentry had belonged to 23 different organiza­tions before he passed. He was instrumental in getting the Beattyville Pool built. He also built the Masonic Lodge building on Main Street that his nephew, Clark, from Owsley County helped build, along with providing services to Beattyville and Lee County for years with nothing but true heart for the community, and after 103 years, this legacy is about to come to a close.

   After many years of sleepless nights of running a 3rd generation family business, Terry Congleton is set to close Congleton Bros’ doors at the end of the year.

   He has many fond memories and will miss those that still wander the halls, both past and present, whether they be mere memories or those coming to give him their thanks for many years of commitment to both the business and the community.

   Terry is very appreciative of all the loyal customers through the years, but he will finally be able to sleep without worrying about how to best serve the community after 50 years of his determined dedication.

   Congleton Bros is a staple of Beattyville, and even though it will be closing, it will always be in the backdrop of our local history; and as they turn the lights off one last time in December of 2024, the last Congleton to run the family business, will finally get a good night’s sleep. Sleep well, our dear Friend, sleep well.