Inside the General Store: Ray, North Dakota, 1937

Russell Lee took this photograph from inside the general store in Ray, North Dakota, in October 1937 — from the side of the counter where the real business of a small town happened.

Groceries, dry goods, news, and credit, all under one roof and all within walking distance of everybody in Ray, up in Williams County. In 1937, this room was the town’s supermarket, hardware store, and social club combined.

The general store was the one commercial room a town like Ray truly needed, and this is what it looked like from the inside, in the fall of 1937.

Source: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-USF34-030835-D

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