The last of the 150 challenge coins for the 2025 Challenge was given out on Friday, April 11th. Thank you all for participating!
This Geocache is part of an annual Geocache Challenge put on by the Heritage Program at Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area as part of our outreach to the public, to get people to explore their forest and their history, and to share the unique heritage of the families from Between the Rivers.
This Geocache is part of the “2025 Land Between the Lakes Heritage Geocache Challenge: General Stores Between the Rivers”. There are 7 geocaches placed across Land Between the Lakes related to the history of the Community General Stores between the rivers. If you locate each geocache, and collect a numbered aluminum tree tag from each cache, you can turn them in at the Golden Pond Visitor Center for one of 150 Challenge Coins created for this event.
The Geocache is a 6” x 6” blue watertight plastic box marked “Heritage Geocache” on the top. The geocache is placed next to a fallen tree.
The “2025 Land Between the Lakes Heritage Geocache Challenge: General Stores Between the Rivers” was researched, written, and placed by archaeologist Lacy Risner. Please thank Lacy for her hard work and dedication.
G. C. Watson’s General Store 1936-1966
Grady Charles Watson's General Store played a crucial role in the lives of the people in the Land Between the Rivers region by providing access to essential goods, fostering a sense of community, and supporting local organizations. People would gather there to socialize, play games like Rook and Pitch, and simply talk for hours, catching up on local news and events.
During World War II, Watson’s General Store operated under a rationing system, requiring customers to use stamps for certain goods. There was an uneven distribution of rationing stamps, with some customers receiving more of certain items than they needed while others received less. Watson observed, "Some people got more coffee than they could drink. People that did-n't drink coffee get a whole lot and people that drank a whole lot didn't get hardly any". This situation some-times led to bartering, with customers trading their ex-cess stamps for items they actually needed. Customers would trade timber, hogs, cattle, or other goods for store credit.
In addition to being a successful store owner, Watson played an active and multifaceted role in his community. He served as a magistrate for 36 years, par-ticipating in the county court and making decisions about taxes, school funding, and other financial matters for the community. He represented his district, which included Neville's Creek, as part of a board that worked with the judge. These duties took up four days of his year unless special situations arose, such as issues within the school board.
