Down on Main Street

By Liz Tenney Jarvis

For fifty-plus years, Jerry Walsh has watched the world go past the large window of his shop, Purcellville Shell on Main Street. The Town of Purcellville has gone from a bustling agricultural hub with family-owned businesses and residences sprinkled across the land to a town now that would be almost unrecognizable by those living here a century ago. 

At the Walsh family-owned station, for example, a house once stood where the gas pumps are currently placed. The home’s owner passed away and the land was sold. Jerry’s father, James, then opened Purcellville Esso on June 1, 1959 originally as a service station and Standard Oil distributer. When Jerry got out of the air force in 1970, his father said it was time for him to take over the business from Jerry’s cousin, ultimately running it by 1972.  

Soon after Jerry took over, and as the station was expanding, there was a house that became available located directly behind the service bays. Jerry had plans to buy the building. However, when it came to bid on the property, Jerry soon discovered that Ed Nichols, Jr. was determined to buy the property and create a parking lot for the town, a lot which is still utilized today. 

“We all called it ‘Nichols-ville’ as they owned everything and ran everything. I will say that things got done and they were tight with their money so items for use by the town were usually purchased used … like a truck, not a new truck but a used one that was just as good. Nowadays, new people move here and they usually want all new, “ Jerry muses. 

Having been in the area for his entire life, Jerry has seen the difference between the “then and now.”

Jerry Walsh was born in Winchester, VA but grew up in Loudoun County. His wife Nancy was from Midlothian, VA before deciding in 1973 to move to Loudoun County to be a teacher. She taught biology at Loudoun Valley High School. Nancy and Jerry laugh about their initial meeting spot, The Huddle, a fairly happening place located where Tari Orthodontics now stands on East Main Street. Nancy insists that it was a restaurant while Jerry indicates that it was bar. 

They were married in 1975 and had two children, Laura and Ken, both of whom grew up in and worked at the station. As Nancy and Jerry head into “semi-retirement,” much of their repair and service station work is being referred to Walsh’s son who also has his own shop – somewhat carrying on the family tradition of passing down the business to the next generation.

Over the years, Standard Oil became Esso, then Exxon, Mobil and finally the Walsh station opted for Shell. What began as only two service bays, grew to include more gas pumps and a barn-like structure where State inspections could be conducted. 

There were many mechanics who came and went, especially as cars and trucks evolved, their engines becoming more complicated and computer enhanced. The children of several Purcellville families had their first jobs at the station. David Wiley, son of the late Jim “Doc” and Betty Wiley, worked there, for example. While there was no shortage of gas stations and dealerships in town with their own pumps and service bays, Walsh did well. “Everyone had an account here, all of the businesses, we serviced most all of them,” Jerry adds.  

Jerry likes to say that the large picture window looking out to West Main Street is his “TV set.” The view is the same and yet the changes do come with the seasons and the years. He says that Main Street was more narrow decades ago and once up the hill, trees grew along the edge of the road creating almost a canopy. 

Jerry recalls the Greyhound Bus stopping across the street. Out in front of Jerry’s big window is a well-worn bench that is a gathering place for a chat or a spot to wait for your vehicle. It’s actually one of the two Greyhound benches that passengers used while waiting on a bus. Bus riders could purchase a ticket a couple of doors down at Edwards drug store right at the intersection of 21st and Main (where Purcellville Family Restaurant is currently located). 

Across from that location, Jerry says, “There was a fire sometime in the late 1960’s, maybe 1970 and every single copy of the Blue Ridge Herald was lost in that fire. Walter Kemp lost so much.” Fires in a small town necessitated that everyone help out. Purcellville lost much of its downtown in two devastating fires in the early 1900’s.  

Watching the small Town of Purcellville grow, Jerry states that there were no shopping centers until 1968 when the first one was built at the site of where The Shoppes at Main and Maple (formerly the Loudoun Valley Shopping Center) is now. As many of the businesses have changed hands, Nancy and Jerry reminisce as to what used to be … referring to residences and farms as to “the old – place” or often pointing out that where one shop is now in operation, there used to be something else. 

Their view outside of their large window also included helping/watching many customers over the years. Actor Robert Duvall would get gas for his car there as he lived in nearby Philomont for a time. Nancy says, “People would ask, ‘Are you looking at Robert Duvall?’ and I would say no, that I was actually marveling at how clean his car was, given all of the spring rains and the mud!” 

When asked about “the good old days,” Jerry replies, “These are the good old days! We are living in them now. Ten years from now, this will either be a town that has forgotten itself and won’t preserve any of what people like about living here. Or it will be a historic town that has been worth saving. 

But everyone is going to have to work at that.” Nancy adds that it would be a shame for it to become Anywhere USA. As they both look out from behind their desk, the same location for the past five decades, they realize that they are the oldest business in town second only to 109-year-old Nichols Hardware. They also know that this is one of the few places left where the local history is shared. Whether seated inside on their waiting chairs, while customers come in and out, or sitting outside on the old Greyhound bus bench, local Purcellville legends and lore can be learned.