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     Still the center of the community, the Mast General Store has been welcoming patrons for over 130 years. The 19th century general merchandise store is said to provide anything from cradles to caskets. Here in the town of Valle Crucis, sightseers thoroughly enjoy browsing through the original Mast Store. With beginnings in 1883, the store still seems to have it all, including a post office that looks like a tiny jail cell. An old cash register weighs down a countertop near the doorway, a gentle reminder to pay the old sentinel. Advertisement posters appear as originals. Candies are sold from wooden barrels. And every nook and cranny is filled with interesting gadgets and knick-knacks.
     Over a half dozen Mast Stores are scattered throughout the tri-state area of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. All the stores have their own unique facades, ranging from the late 1800s through the 1940s, as the late-comer in Asheville. The Valle Crucis store was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and is viewed as one of the finest examples of an American country store.

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