Jacksonville's old New River Shopping Center.

When the men who fought World War Two returned to the states in 1945 and 1946 they set about building a nation and life for themselves and their soon to be growing families that would become known as the Baby Boom. Many of them settled in towns and cities where there were jobs and opportunities to build that life. With the coming of Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville NC those men were drawn to the town for what would become lots of civil service jobs on the new base, lots of jobs for those staying in the military, and lots of jobs to service and build the new Marine base.  Jacksonville became a modern day boom town in the late 1940's. 

The new boom town needed new homes for the fast growing population as well as new shopping for their needs. A company called New River Management filled the bill with new apartment homes in the area just to the east of the old downtown section. Add in the rapidly growing single family homes being built north the the New River called Northwoods and you have a ready made group of people to make one of those new shopping centers popping up all over the US become financially a success. 

Thus began New River Shopping Center. Those of us who grew up in the late 1950's through much of the 1970's knew this shopping venue as the place to go do some serious shopping.  There was a movie theater, lots of individual shops, a big Colonial grocery store, as well as a post office and other service stores to sell to the new residents in Jacksonville and Onslow County. Looking at the center now no one would know that at one time NRSC had the highest volume Sears store in the country and the largest grossing independent pharmacy in the entire country as well.  One of the most visited stores was a huge Roses store in the back side of the center. 

All these thoughts came rushing through my mind back a couple of weeks ago when we needed some cheap household products for our new beach home and found a Big Lots in the old Roses store at NRSC. I had not visited NRSC for several decades until that day and the melancholy that rushed through my mind was one emotional moment.  Going into the old Roses store was a moment in time since the last time I had been in that building was with my mother at least over 25 years ago.  Almost felt like I should not go in as it would be unholy to change my memories of my last shopping experience in the building. 

But went in I did and bought our products and left. But then began some exploring of the old center and a chance to stop and look and revisit the old glories and my memories of the once vibrant and exciting shopping there.  The pharmacy is gone having been torn down for more parking.  New River Pharmacy however is there in my memories where I bought my first in car stereo system and where I watched my mother fill prescriptions. Sears is gone too, but the building remains where I used to go look at new bikes and dream about those banana seat versions, where my father would find deals on new Sears tires, where my good friend was a TV salesperson, where you could look at the Christmas catalog in real life.  

NRSC was also where my mother could turn me loose to walk and explore by myself  without any concern about someone picking me up or adducting me for evil purposes. All I had to do was tell her where I was going and where I could meet back with her. NRSC was where she knew some nice lady sales clerk would look after a little boy like he was her own if I ever got into something I was not supposed to be doing. Try that nowadays in any shopping venue. 

The memories flowed as I thought about seeing movies in the old theater there, looking at all the new Keds and such at the Thom McCam shoe store, and the intrigue of the old hobby store there whose name I can not remember.  Almost guaranteed was that you would run into more than a few people you knew shopping that day too since NRSC would draw people from all over Onslow County to shop. 

I get this melancholy too every time I drive down Henderson Drive in Jacksonville past another old shopping center, Northwoods Shopping Center, which is a small cousin of NRSC.  Then past old Northwoods subdivision where many people made new homes back in the 1950's and 1960's.  These homes seem small now compared to what many of us presently live in, but to our parents they were Home Sweet Home then and a chance to have a middle class life of shopping, family, and friends.  Truth be known they might have been happier than we are now with a bigger homes. We seem to think more and bigger is better, but maybe it is not. I do know they brought a sense of calm steady adult leadership to society we sorely miss now.  

I suppose as you get older and see places like old NRSC we are replaying the same trek our parents and grandparents had when they visited old downtown's and small country stores as they grew older too.  I expect our children will do the same with malls and such as they close and new shopping venues become the norm. However the one thing they will not be remembering is places like NRSC since the population is growing and the smallish community centered places like this are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Maybe too the one time moment of millions of GI's returning from the war will never be repeated as well.  I consider myself blessed to have grown up in such a moment in time and expect if you are reading this you do too.