DailyTrib.com
Support Community Press
You can show your support of a vibrant and healthy free press by becoming a voluntary subscriber.
Subscribe Now
A.B. McGill & Co. General Mercantile in Bertram closed its doors in 1993. An antique store operated out of the space until 1997. McGill’s is believed to be the longest-operating mercantile in Texas history. Courtesy photo
More than 116 years of history crumbled to the ground March 22 when a 75-mph straight-line wind laid waste to the building that once housed A.B. McGill & Company General Merchants in Bertram.
Although the building has been empty since 1997, it filled the hearts of many longtime locals with fond memories of buying wedding china, church shoes, party dresses, washing machines, groceries, and caskets in the place where they also banked.