Anne Hartley’s brick house in Ebony, Va., overlooks windswept fields, a Methodist church, a general store and the intersection of two country roads, a pastoral setting that evokes an Edward Hopper painting or a faded postcard from the South.
Now this scene is being threatened, Ms. Hartley said, by a plan to build what every small American town seems to have: a Dollar General.
A descendant of one of Ebony’s founding families, Ms. Hartley says the discount store — which would be built next to her home — will create traffic problems in the area, with people drawn to the brand’s signature yellow sign and its aisles filled with inexpensive food and household staples.
Beyond the store itself, Ms. Hartley and many others with ties to Ebony think it will open the door to additional development that will spoil the character of their tiny, rural community of about 230 people.
The name of their website and the rallying cry for their campaign against the Dollar General is “Keep Ebony Country.”
Persons:
Anne, Edward Hopper, Hartley, Ebony, ”
Organizations:
Methodist, Dollar
Locations:
Ebony , Va, windswept