130. Porters Store

Limited Edition Watercolour Lithographic Print (unframed) sn450, ap15, pp10

8 5/8 x 5 3/4 (inches) sn $40, ap$50, pp$60

From a watercolour painting by Brian Croft

This old country store was constructed in 1939 and is the third successive general store to be built on the site. Over the years, Murrayville, originally called Murray’s Corners, has been home to a number of businesses, a butcher shop, several general stores, a ladies hat shop, a cheese factory, a toy factory, a garage, feed stores and others have all played bit parts in the story of this historical Fraser Valley 5-way intersection. Of all these enterprises, only Porter’s Store survives today.

In recent years the old store was usually surrounded by an eclectic but colourful jumble of repaired lawn mowers; an eye-catching statement by the store’s equally colourful long-time owner, Eldon Porter and his passion for fixing things. You simply could not pass through the corners without taking a quick glance at Porters on “Five Corners”.

It was shortly after a Christmas past when Langley heard that “Eldie” had passed away. Soon afterward, I painted my sixth and seventh paintings of the store. It was as if I needed to catch this little bit of history before it was forgotten. Eldie Porter and his famous collection of lawnmowers may be gone, but this painting brings back what I will always remember; Porter’s Store, the way it was.

Brian Croft