Sometime around 1914, two Calhoun County, Florida, businessmen, Wade H. and Samuel A. Leonard, purchased a block of property in downtown Blountstown. On the southeast corner of Central Avenue and South Pear Street, they built a large brick building. It housed a variety of commercial enterprises and operations until a fire destroyed most of the building in the 1920’s.

       In the early ‘30s, the property was sold to a local businesswoman, Mrs. Grace McClellan. She and her husband rebuilt the building on the same lot, enlarging it by a substantial amount. From the mid-1930’s to the mid-1970’s, this building served as the “heart” of the town. The downtown area was covered with homes, and this building housed the businesses that were necessary for maintaining these households. Businesses changed over time, but for many years there was at least one large grocery store and one smaller one.  One corner housed the local barber shop where the men and boys of the community gathered to get their hair cut and to listen to the day’s “news.” Over the years, several members of the Carl Hall family cut hair at this shop, along with Howard Johnson, Sr., who ended up as our county’s school superintendent, and Martin Sewell, who served for years as the county’s supervisor of elections.   At the back of the barber shop, was a bath facility where people who came into town in the early years could clean-up and enjoy their time off the farms and turpentine plantations. 

 
       There was a variety store that was owned by Grace McClellan’s daughter, Inez Bailey. She stocked clothing, household supplies, and other materials needed by the local citizens. At one time, the Leonard Drug Store was housed there.  On the westside of the building, there was a men’s clothing store which was run by the Shapiro family.
       Upstairs housed professional offices and services.  Among others, there was a dentist office, a lawyer’s office, and, in the years after World War II, an art studio where young ladies studied painting with Clara Pennington Jones.  Over the years, the upstairs served as the home of the Calhoun County School Board offices and the first social welfare facility. Community gatherings were hosted in the offices upstairs and social groups used space for their meetings.  In the 1970’s, the town began to change and most of the building became empty.

 
       The McClellan family’s granddaughter and her husband, Debbie and Tommy Edwards, had a True Value Hardware operation there until they sold the property in 2008 to Steve Bailey.  He intended to restore the building, but was not able to do it before Hurricane Michael struck. 
​       In 2018, the property was scheduled for demolition. A group of residents and friends of Blountstown realized that if that building were torn down, there would basically be nothing left of the “heart” of the town we grew up in.  This was when Saving Downtown Blountstown was formed and the property was purchased.

​       There is tremendous potential for the development of this building and a recent development survey suggests that this could be the trigger needed for a revitalization surge.