February 2025 | Volume 18 | Issue 4
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Remains of days gone by One of the last original US 280 businesses still stands, but for how long?
Sheriff John Samaniego stands in his office in Shelby County. Samaniego has led the development of a mental health block in the Shelby County Jail to assist struggling inmates. Photo by Savannah Schmidt.
By TAYLOR BRIGHT There are still coolers in the old store on U.S. 280 — stocked with a few half-cases of beer, soft drinks and a shelf full of condiments where employees can place their food. The old cigarette shelves now hold local honey for sale. In the front corner of the store, crickets and minnows remain for those fishing at Lake Purdy. It’s a time capsule — a living memory of how life was decades ago along this stretch of U.S. 280. The store itself is almost like a museum piece, harking back to a time when the area was dominated by farmland. Now, U.S. 280 is a strip of heavy traffic bordered by miles of businesses. The structure serves as an office for Perrin & Son Landscaping Supplies, but it was once a gas station for travelers heading to or from weekends at the lake. That original gas station is now buried under the soil that raised modern U.S. 280, with the current structure built on top of it. The Perrin family still stocks a few items in the store. “Some of our customers will come in and grab a little something while they’re here, but if we were trying to make any living off of that, we would starve,” said Trey Perrin, the third generation of his family to work on this property.
Above: An aerial view of Perrin & Son Landscape Supplies from the 1970s with the store surrounded by trees that are now replaced by neighboring businesses. Photo courtesy of Trey Perrin. Left: Trey Perrin points out old news clippings inside the original gas station his grandfather bought on U.S. 280. Below: Signs outside of the store promote available products. Photos by Taylor Bright.
Shelby County Jail to see improvements with mental health focus this fall By EMILY REED A significant expansion at the Shelby County Jail is underway this year, with a heightened focus on mental and medical health units for inmates. “This will help us to manage the inmates and allow us to have more room and be safer for the mental health workers who come and treat the inmates we have with mental health needs,” said Shelby County Sheriff John Samaniego. “I think a lot of people don’t realize that we have professionals who come in and deliver services every day.” The project has been in the works for several years, following the Shelby County Commission’s approval of an estimated $28 million to transform the current jail into four distinct areas.
See PERRIN & SON | page A18
INSIDE
See MENTAL HEALTH | page A16 Sponsors...........................A4 City.....................................A8
Schoolhouse.....................A9 Real Estate......................A12
Sports................................. B1 Business.......................... B10
Events...............................B12 Community......................B14 facebook.com/280living
Tech Success
Medical Guide
Jeff State surgical tech program sees high demand for lucrative career.
Meet health and wellness professionals around Hoover.
See page A9
See page B4