Grocery Store from 1912 & Abandoned House

I'm drawn to old buildings.

I like to photograph them and imagine their history.

Who built this building? Was it a labor of love? A measure of their worth and pride? What kind of life did it have? And, in the cases of abandoned buildings like this, how did this building die?

This grocery store from 1912 caught my eye in rural Arkansas and I had to stop and explore. Unfortunately, the roof has collapsed and only the outer structure remains. I still wonder life was like when this was the Walmart for this small community.

Next door to the this grocery store I found an abandoned house. Still intact, I snuck in to take some pictures. Often abandoned houses have a similar pathology after they're left by their residents. They're usually squatted by someone that needs a home until the house becomes so unlivable that even the squatter goes somewhere else. So the pictures inside are a double mystery: Who lived here when they paid the mortgage or the rent and who lived here when those folks left? More than anything, the question asks: What happened?