Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Capps recalls life in Gurdon

He's spent the better part of a century in Gurdon and says, "There's no place like Gurdon. Anywhere."

Austin Capps has been in business in Gurdon since he was in grade school - somewhere around the early 1920s.

"My dad bought a grocery store on Main Street, just down from where I am now. It was called J.R. Capps. When I was in grade school, I got a barrel and put it there in the back of the store. I'd go to the ice house and get ice to put in the barrel. And I'd sell cold drinks for a nickel apiece. That was my first business."

At 10, he took up tickets at the theater that would later become the Hoo Hoo. "In those days, it was called the Wright Theater." He took up tickets while he watched over the owner's daughter. "And that was my first paying job in Gurdon."

Over the years, he and his late wife, Mary Lou, have owned a grocery store, clothing store, florist, nursing home, hardware store and variety store. But his first love, Capps said, was the grocery business.

"It's fast. It keeps you on your toes."

He was born on Nov. 22, 1913, "in a two-room house out there" in Dobeyville, just off Highway 51 between Arkadelphia and Okolona. His father farmed and his grandfather owned several businesses, including a cotton gin and the community's first gas station.

"The mail carrier got a car and so my grandfather put in a filling station. He (my grandfather) already had a car and several more got cars pretty soon."

Then the family moved to town, his father bought the grocery store and his mother went to work at a then-prosperous bottling plant. Capps and his two sisters, one who now lives in Houston and the other in Nashville, Tenn., grew up in Gurdon as the town began to grow.

He said there were about 15 grocery stores in town during the railroad boom years. Competition was strong but the demand for services was also great. Capps said he and his father survived by offering "good service. Just good service and good prices."

The town in those days was typical of small towns. Dirt streets were normal and Capps said he can remember getting stuck on Main Street.

The area currently occupied by the Gurdon Times office was open lots where the people from outlying areas parked their cars or left their horses.

"I used to ride my bicycle right here," Capps said from the Gurdon Times office. And there were watering troughs right here where people watered their teams."

Though Mary Lou was from Whelen Springs, she came into Gurdon for school, and later came into the grocery store. That's where the couple got acquainted. They married and had two sons by the time Capps was called to report for military duty. He'd received his 2nd Lieutenant's commission from Ouachita Baptist University.

"When the war came along, I received my call, my orders, to go to the infantry. I reported to Hot Springs."

But during the physical, it was determined that he was five pounds too light.

"They told me to come back home and eat bananas everyday for three weeks and then come back. And I did. And then I weighed enough with two pounds to spare."

At his first military assignment, it was discovered that Capps had worked at his dad's store and he was assigned to the Quartermaster in the clothing department. He later transferred to the Transportation Corps and spent the remainder of the war working at loading and unloading ships. He still has a cup, the prize for his crew setting a record for the amount of time it took to load a ship.

His family lived with him until he was shipped overseas, then Mary Lou and the boys returned to Gurdon.

"We didn't know where we were going," he said. "But after 22 days at sea, we landed in Casablanca, North Africa."

As Capps' crew was going down the gangplank, a man fell into the water. Because of his heavy gear, he sank and was not found.

"That was my first casualty," Capps remembered.

He was later transferred to Naples, Italy, then on to France. He remembers Rome as the most fascinating place he saw during his travels, mostly because of the history associated with the area.

When the war ended, he was offered a job in New York.

"It was a good job, good money."

But when he told his father of the offer, the elder Capps offered to sell him the store on Main Street.

"I had a wife and two little kids. I didn't want to live in that city. I wanted to come home. And I did."

That was around 1946. Later, the grocery business expanded to become Austin's IGA located in the now-vacant building on Second Street.

Austin and Mary Lou were married 67 years, had two sons, seven grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. Gurdon has been, Capps said, a good place to raise a family.

He said it was important to him to repay that by being active in the community.

"You ought to be involved in the community, not sit back and gripe."

Over the years, he has served as president of both the Gurdon Rotary Club and the Gurdon Chamber of Commerce, and has served on the Gurdon School Board and the board of a local bank. Mary Lou was the first lady to join Rotary after the organization began allowing female members. Both Capps were recipients of the Paul Harris Fellow award.

"I always loved Gurdon," he said. "The people here were always friendly and I've had a lot of friendly customers."

Capps said his own roots are deep in Gurdon and the surrounding area, and that has kept him from ever wanting to go somewhere else. His grandfather was the first to build a cabin at the Davidson Campground and the family still camp during camp meeting week. Capps joined the local Presbyterian Church at age 12, and is still a member.

These days, life is a bit slower, Capps said. He is personally overseeing only one business though he said his grandson, John, "does all the work." Austin's Variety is open on Main Street most days, unless health issues or doctor's appointments interfere.

"I always have something to do," he said. "I could stay home, but there's always something I need to do. That's why I stay in business."

He said he always tries to have a smile on his face.

"I'm happy. I have no worries. I've turned them all over to the Lord."

With a history like this in the city of Gurdon, Capps must have some accomplishments that he's really proud of. What does he hope people know about him?

"That I married a really pretty girl here and raised two boys. I hope I'm remembered as a good person." Because, as Capps said, those are the things that are truly important.

He stays pretty close to home these days but said he and Mary Lou and the children have taken some great trips to wonderful places.

"We'd take a trip and I always enjoyed that. We'd go on a two-week vacation, but we were always glad to get home. There's no place like Gurdon."