Haston Block House - Built 1908 in Spencer, TN
By Landon Medley and Wayne Haston
Landon and I were working together on this article when he passed away in 2021. -Wayne Haston
The "Cyclone" In Spencer, TN that (Literally) Cleared the Way for the Haston Block
Following a (3:00 a.m.) November 18, 1906 cyclone [tornado?] that occurred at Spencer everything on the southwestern corner of the town square was gone. And the newly-built courthouse was severely damaged. The first priority was to address the damages to the courthouse. But citizens also began to rebuild homes and businesses. One of these targeted building sites was on the southwestern corner of the town square. A group of citizens set out to build a business block on that corner.
Following a (3:00 a.m.) November 18, 1906 cyclone [tornado?] that occurred at Spencer everything on the southwestern corner of the town square was gone. The Bouldin Hotel and D. L. Haston & Son, stores, were the only building not badly damage by the cyclone on the courthouse square. C. H. Clark’s store was completely destroyed. And the courthouse was severely damaged. The first priority was to address the damages to the courthouse. But citizens also began to rebuild homes and businesses. One of these targeted building sites was on the southwestern corner of the town square. A group of citizens set out to build a business block on that corner.
A large structure was built to house businesses and the first bank in Spencer. By September of 1907, the structure was completed, and the first known bank of Spencer was open. Mr. A. Lee Coffman was the first cashier at the bank. Mr. Coffman resigned in 1910. He was replaced by Nathan Bouldin Haston, son of D.L. Haston.
The bank went through three stages before becoming known as Citizens of Spencer in about 1914.
D.L. Haston - The Driving Force Behind the Haston Block
One of the leading citizens of Spencer at that time was David Lavander (D.L.) Haston, the son of Isaac T. Haston, Sr. This D.L. Haston was a grandson of David Haston and great-grandson of Daniel Haston. D.L. married Amanda Bouldin, the daughter of Nathan Bouldin, on December 4, 1881. Nathan Bouldin was the owner and operator of the Spencer-famous Bouldin Hotel.
In 1910, he was 52 years old (born 1858) and living in Spencer. He and Amanda had four living children, three of whom were living with them (Lawrence, age 20; Clarence, age 14, and Lester, age 8). D.L. was a salesman by occupation, owned his own home, and operated a Dry Goods Store on the courthouse square in Spencer–D.L. Haston and Sons. According to the 1920 census, he was living on the McMinnville Road in Spencer, which was at the corner of the Haston Block building.
Apparently, D.L. Haston was the major “mover and shaker” behind the construction of a business block at the southwest corner of the town square. Thus, this structure became known as the “Haston Block.”
D.L. was involved in the process of the incorporation of Spencer in 1909.
Sale to D. L. Haston for $50.00 a portion of the southeast [southwest?] corner of the public square of Spencer beginning about 20 feet from the lower side of the present courthouse fence on a rock and running thence east about 70 feet with a ditch to the corner of said square, thence north about 90 feet with a ditch to a rock then west about 70 feet to a rock, about 20 feet from the lower side of the court house fence, thence south about 90 feet to the place of beginning.
Note: If it was the southeast corner it was not the Haston Block building lot.
After the storm that did much damage to Spencer, a group of citizens sought to build a new business block, as well as restore the buildings that had been destroyed.
On June 19, 1907, a group of local businessmen submitted to E.N. Haston (Van Buren County Court Clerk) their intentions to establish Van Buren Bank in Spencer.
The Haston Block Building has housed numerous businesses (and at least one church) over the years. By September of 1907, the structure was completed, and the first known bank of Spencer–The Van Buren Bank–was open. Mr. A. Lee Coffman was the first cashier at the bank. Mr. Coffman resigned in 1910. He was replaced by Nathan Bouldin Haston, D.L. Haston’s son.
Names of directors of the Van Buren Bank 1907-1914: E. T. Passons, I. S. Shockley, W. N. Billingsley, G. W. Johnson, J. M. Gamble, Alex Russell, James M. Brady, and J. N. Haston.
The Van Buren Bank failed and became Citizen Bank in 1914 (Chattanooga Daily Times, October 25, 1914, page 13).
Memories of the Haston Block House by a Spencer, TN Native
Someone made coffins for the county for a while in the space above the store. And there was a frequent card game (apparently in a room in the back of the store) at the time the coffins were being made. Wilburn “Slick” Reedy was a cook at the Bouldin Hotel at the time (having been recently released from Brushy Mountain Prison). (Slick told me that he went to ‘the penetanshuh’ when he was 21 years old, and that was in 1916. Said he got too much education, ….learned to write his name, …..and wrote it on a check.) Anyway, one night the card game was on; the players were snacking on peanuts, and Slick was present. After a time they ran out of peanuts, and someone asked Slick to go upstairs and refill the peanut buckets from the tow sack of them that was up there. Slick went up the exterior stairway on the east side of the building, reached the top landing, opened the door, and went in to get the peanuts. Someone was hiding in one of the coffins and chose that very moment to open the lid and sit up. In lieu of running back down the stairs, Slick took the aerial route from the stair-top landing back to earth.
The KKK used to hold their meetings and stash their robes in the space above the bank. (I learned this in the 1950s when my Daddy got a job to do some painting and miscellaneous woodwork in the bank, and I was his helper. One day he asked me to go upstairs and get him a drop cloth, and as I climbed the stairs I wondered what made him suspect a drop cloth might be found up there. Strangely, there were lots of them laying around. I picked one of them up, and a pointed hood with eye holes fell to the floor. I never told Daddy about it, and I still have it.)
Cordially, Hoyte Cook
Formerly Honey's Ice Cream & Coffee Shop and Restaurant; Now (2023), Crimson & Clover Restaurant
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3 thoughts on “Haston Block Building – Spencer, TN”
Honey’s is no longer at this location. It is now occupied by Crimson & Clover Restaurant.
Changed it.
2018 I moved to spencer tn.the Haston block building was being restored.by a couple from California who had bought it. Turned it into a chocolate factory. I painted fhe whole inside of this building. Forever a part in history of restoring Haston block. Jenae larrinaga.
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