Cotton gin, Everton, about 1900.
Gladys McKay/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-127-55)

E.G. Whitaker General Store, Alpena, about 1909. 
Nancy Barron/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-44)

Bank of Harrison, Harrison, about 1895. 
Garvin Fitton/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-127-37)

Soon after settlers first arrived in the county, businesses like general stores began to spring up. By 1885 Harrison had a number of stores that sold food, medicine, clothing, furniture, saddles, and hardware. Specialized shops included a bakery, ice cream and candy makers, and a man who made tinware. Residents from neighboring communities flocked to town on Saturdays to shop and socialize.

The coming of the railroad in 1901 meant that more goods were brought into the county and farm products and natural resources like lumber and ores were sent to market. In the 1910s fresh eggs were shipped to Memphis in railroad cars cooled with ice.