by Charly Mann

For me the most greatest man ever to live in Chapel Hill was Adam Alexander Kluttz (1857- 1926). He came to Chapel Hill in 1878 as a young man to take the two year medical school preparatory course at UNC, and then went to the New York School of Physicians and Surgeons (now Columbia University) to get his medical degree. He did not practice medicine for long, and instead came back to Chapel Hill to open A.A. Kluttz, Chapel Hill's first general merchandise store, in 1883. Even though he never practiced medicine he was known from the time he opened his store until his death as Dr. Kluttz. There was no person better loved and respected in Chapel Hill history than Dr. Kluttz.

This is the first ad for A.A. Kluttz General Merchandise  from 1893. This is the first year Chapel Hill had a newspaper, and it was published once a week from September through May.

When he opened his store, Chapel Hill was barely a village. It was a secluded community that few people except for students had a reason to make their way to, and the roads into town were barely accessible even by horse. In 1883 downtown Franklin Street had only half a dozen wooden structures. The only source of water was from wells, and homes were lighted by oil lamps.

Dr Kluttz helping a young boy at his candy counter at A.A. Kluttz in the center of Franklin Street Chapel Hill

Dr Kluttz's store provided Chapel Hillians with virtually everything they including needed candy, magazines, tobacco, stationery, food, clothing, shoes, school books, Christmas cards, umbrellas and patent medicines. (For those unfamiliar with patent medicine these were highly popular remedies of questionable effectiveness that were heavily hyped as cure all for all kinds of ills , and often contained alcohol, cocaine, or some other kind of opiate.)  You would enter Kluttz's through a screen door and find a dimly lit store.

Dr. Kluttz had a drug store in Chapel Hill next to his store in the 1890s that sold medically approved drugs and the then very popular patent medicines

Inside Kluttz's everything was jumbled together. The aisles were all cluttered and made up of heavy tables and counters stacked so high with merchandise that children and medium sized adults could not see over them. To the left side of the entrance was a candy case filled with boxes of Lowney's chocolate that came in boxes decorated with pictures of beautiful women, along with trays of gumdrops, jelly beans, caramels, marshmallows, sour balls, licorice sticks, and peppermints. Further back on the left hand aisle were shelves of used textbooks, followed by tables with college supplies including notebooks, pencils, pens, ink, tablets. On the other side of this row were hundreds of boxes of men's shoes. On the right hand side of the store were a couple of rows of food , including cheese, crackers, sardines, pickles, potted ham, corned beef, and by 1900, Coca-Cola which was an instant hit in Chapel Hill. The middle part of the store was jam-packed with all types of goods including clothing, and bags that overflowed into the aisles containing textiles and yarn. Everyone in Chapel Hill knew that if you hunted long enough at A.A. Kluttz you would find what you were looking for.

This is an A.A. Kluttz ad from 1900. The copy says it all; everything anyone wanted could be found at Kluttz's in Chapel Hill.

Dr Kluttz was a tall man with a handlebar mustache who cared far more about people than money. Even though he was the dominant merchant in town for forty years he prided himself in being the friend of everyone who lived in Chapel Hill. The store was always profitable, but he was not a good businessman. He had much more passion for growing flowers and vegetable gardening. He sold most of his goods on credit and trusted everyone in town. Often poor residents were unable to pay their bills, but he never cut anyone off from getting their necessities. He also employed many students as clerks, and many stole money from the store, but that did not seem to bother " Doc" either. Even though he had no children, he especially loved his youngest customers, and was known to add extra candy to their bags when they came in to purchase something at the candy counter. By 1910 people considered him an old timer and attributed his kindness, love of people, and lackadaisical business practices to being a man of the 1880s and 90s generation. By this time his hair was white and he often preferred staying in the back of his store playing checkers, or talking to a friend, than helping customers. When a customer would walk in the store he would say to the friend he was talking to; " ssh, don't make any noise maybe they will go away." In his heyday Dr Kluttz would enjoy greeting all his customers. After 12PM his greeting was always the same, "good evening", since in those days there was no expression for "afternoon".

   
A.A. Kluttz was the first Chapel Hill merchant to offer muiscal concerts to attract customers to his store. This is from 1907. In the 1930s the downtown cafeteria often had a full jazz orchestra in the evenings. In 1971 I started having concets at my record store on West Franklin Street with artists that included Larry Reynolds and Cindy Gooch.

In  1916 Kluttz built a new two story brick building to replace the wooden store he had operated out of since 1883. It was the grandest building on Franklin Street and sat at the center of the commercial block. Even in that year the town did not have many businesses. Where Four Corners is now was a small wooden building that housed the post office. Next to it was Eubank's Drug Store, then Strowd's Meat Market, McCauley's dry goods store, the Bank of Chapel Hill, and then Kluttz's new store. Above his store were several apartments which he rented to students. Kluttz's store was directly across the street from where the Carolina Coffee Shop is today. In those days it was where Tank Hunter's Livery stable was located. Next to the stable, in a small wooden building, was Gooch's, the town's first restaurant. Directly to the west of Kluttz's was a small store that sold eyeglasses and did photographic portraits that was run by Willie B Sorrell. Next door was the Herndon Hardware store. The last business on the block was a blacksmith shop.

Dr. Kluttz replaced his wooded building with a much larger two story brick buildi n in 1916 that stood in the center of Franklin Street in Chapel Hill until about 1971

Dr. Kluttz retired from business in 1923, but he remained a fixture in town until his death in 1926. In 1912 he bought one of the first cars in Chapel Hill, a Cadillac, and loved to take trips with his wife, Ora Jane, around the state.

This is a rare photo of Dr. Kluttz from 1924. He retired from his business the previous year. He is in the front row second from the left. Cornelia Spencer Love another Chapel Hill legend is first female in the front row right. She was a boarder at the Kluttz home from 1918 to 1929.

No person ever loved Chapel Hill as much as Adam Kluttz. His final words are probably the most prophetic and significant in Chapel Hill's history. On the afternoon he lay dying at his house at 407 East Franklin Street in 1926, his friend and minister of the Presbyterian church Reverend Moss sat next to his bedside to comfort him. It was an especially cold and icy December 20th. Dr Kluttz looked up from his bed and asked Reverend Moss if he thought he would go to heaven. The Reverend quickly responded by saying, "Yes, Dr Kluttz, I think you will." Slowly and deliberately Dr Kluttz then asked, " What do you think heaven is like?" The Reverend Moss, after a long pause said, " Dr Kluttz I believe heaven must be a lot like Chapel Hill in the spring." Dr Kluttz then spoke his final words, " That's good." Since that time Chapel Hill has been known as The Southern Part of Heaven.

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