Name/Title
James E. Hughes General StoreEntry/Object ID
1990.323.0083Description
James E. Hughes General Store
When the James and Carmelia Burgess Hughes family moved from Blue Valley, Utah via Delamar Mine in Nevada to the Virgin Valley in 1897, it added 18 new members to the small community of Mesquite. James Elmer, the oldest of the twelve children, was already married with seven children of his own.
James Elmer owned the block between what is now Willow and Yucca streets and Mesquite Blvd. and First North. He built his lumber and adobe home on the northeast corner of the lot. It was a large home for the time, one of the nicest in town. It had five rooms and a large back porch. They made a small front room into a store where canned goods and such were sold. Later, it was also used as a small post office. The business grew and they were able to build a nice adobe brick store and post office adjacent to the house on the south side.
The family had gardens and a good orchard where they grew a lot of fruit. In 1916, James Elmer tore the old house down and put up a block home on the same location. His son Sylvan, who was then a teenager, helped build the new house and lived in it with his own family until his death.
Names: Back Row from L to R Sylvan Hughes, La Dessa Hughes, James Elmer Hughes (Father) Sarah Ann Burgess Hughes (Mother), Emily Abbott Hughes, Elmer Hughes. In front L to R Dellon Potter, Hyrum Potter, Anna Potter.