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The Building's History |
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The building, presently known as Roca Country Inn, was one of the early buildings in Roca.
It replaced a frame building that was the original village Blacksmith Shop built in 1876
by Tom Forest, the village blacksmith. Then,about 3 years later, a Mr. Tom Mussetter
purchased the building to sell Dry Goods there. A floor had to be installed as the Blacksmith
shop only had a dirt floor. In turn, Mr. Mussetter sold the building and business to Robert
Harrop. It continued to be a Dry Goods store into the early 1900’s. At some time early in
the 1900’s, the International Order of Odd Fellows organization rented the upstairs for their
meeting hall and the community used the upstairs as a place for dances and community gatherings.
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In the late 1920’s the building was damaged by fire, and all of the wooden parts of the
structure were pretty much destroyed. The test of whether the walls were sound was to try
to pull them over with teams of horses and since the horses could not pull it down, the decision
was made to rebuild it and workmen replaced all of the structure that had been damaged in the fire.
It continued to be a “Dry Goods” store until the 1960’s, including the time when the Barnhardt
family sold groceries, and operated a butcher shop here. Much of the detail of each of the
owners is somewhat vague, but the thing that was constant was the presence of the building.
It is in the memories of all who lived around Roca. Not a week goes by that someone doesn’t
drop in to pass along their memories of this landmark.
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In 1998, Phil and Linda Cochran began renovating it to become a Bed and Breakfast, Antique
Store, and once more to be a place for meetings, reunions, and receptions.
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