[2] With the exception of Meridian, Lauderdale County is mostly rural, remaining largely as it was at the turn of the 20th century and even earlier.

Before automobiles and personal transportation became widespread, many of the early settlers of Lauderdale County grouped into small population clusters that relied nearly entirely on local resources, each community isolated from the others.

The community was a commercial center in southeastern Lauderdale County, and its inhabitants also produced lumber and agricultural products.

Raynor store is the oldest of the four buildings in the district, built around 1860, and it still retains most of its original board and batten siding.

In 1943, the original wooden floor was removed and replaced with cement, and garage doors were installed on the eastern side of the building.

Other alterations to the original design include the addition of an interior wall to shield customers from the dust produced by the grist mill in the rear of the building and the addition of two small rooms–one at the rear of the building and the other on the western side–that served as a grist mill equipment shed and a feed storage area.

Over its lifespan it has more than tripled in size, being home a different points throughout its history to a post office, a barbershop, a doctor's office, a drug store, the town hall, a voting precinct, a Ford dealership, a residence, a feed and fertilizer storage area, a theater, and a storage area for merchandise.

[3] The original facade is now covered by a false front parapet on which many commercial signs have hung throughout the building's lifetime.

A room was added to the southeast corner of the house to hold the doctor's office, and a covered patio previously held the grist mill now in Raynor's store.

When the Hagwood family bought the store in 1942, their son Leslie remembers people buying an entire month's supply, but by the 1980s, that no longer happened.