Alisa Corstorphine Finds Buxton Images–and Family History

CCC Miners and workers with workhorses

Rarely do I find photos of Buxton I’ve never seen before. Rarer still do I find them in my inbox. But today I did, thanks to Alisa Corstorphine.

“I didn’t know if they were unique but I knew they were important,” said Alisa, referring to the Buxton images. After going through her mother’s photos and albums, she discovered the postcards that her great-grandfather John Benjamin Horine had exchanged with his wife, Ethel. In search of something to do while sheltering-in-place, Alisa’s daughter Amy began scanning them.

Millinery shop and Williams Drugs store
Millinery shop, owned by two African American women, and Williams Drugs. Courtesy Alisa Corstorphine

But after they were scanned, Alisa didn’t know what to do with the images. “I didn’t know anything about Buxton,” she said. A quick search took her to Wikipedia and after acquiring fifteen minutes of knowledge, she found me.

Boy, was I happy she did! I stared at never-before-seen (by me) images, such as Consolidation Coal Company miners/workers in front of row of workhorses, a millinery shop and Williams Drugs, and new images of the post office, Coopertown, and Thomas Brothers Drugs. I’m excited to start blogging about these images.

Facebook page containing new Buxton images
Click here to view all images on Facebook.

Alisa is excited, too. Though additional sleuthing has turned up more information—like the fact that her great-grandparents were married in Buxton and her grandfather was born there—Alisa wants to find more. She plans to go through a box of genealogy items her mom’s been saving. “Who knows what else I will find,” she said.

But that will have to wait until she wraps up on the next issue of the monthly positive newspaper she produces. Be sure to check out Alisa’s latest issue of Alamo Today and Danville Today News along with the fantastic Buxton images.