Where we started and how we ended up here.

April 1969 Mrs. McCullough of Orlean

Traveling Around: Visiting The Orlean Market 

The Orlean Market, located exactly in the center of the Village of Orlean, has a long and colorful history in our community. It is now the home of Giliam's Pub, named for Sandy and Bill Gilliam, former owners who welcomed neighbors into a community landmark with good food and liquid refreshments.

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Brown Rector lived next door to the store in what is now Gilliam's  pub. Their house constructed by John Russell in 1907, was the home of many evenings of fun and dancing for local young men. Mr. Dudley Payne, father of Judge H. Dudley Payne, told about how pretty the Rector girls were and related how he rode horseback to the house, to help  roll up the rugs before the music started.

Tuberculosis was rampant at that time so some of the children in the community thought that Mr. Rector's nickname "T.B" meant that he had tuberculosis himself.

Orlean Market (a.k.a Rector's Store)

Originally known as Rector's Store, this popular gathering place was constructed around 1900 by Thomas Brown Rector, always known as "T.B". The store entrance faced the intersection of Leeds Manor and John Barton Payne Roads. The original steps are still visible. The store held a variety of country store goods for the whole community: flour, sugar, sewing materials, jewelry, perfume and almost anything else that might be needed. There was a huge wood burning "pot belly" stove where men sat to visit, chew tobacco, and pass the time every evening.

During World War ll, the store was one of the few places that had a telephone which was used to find out news about "the boys" who were away in the service.

Pay phone as many remember was the one of the ways to get the news oversea.  Orlean Market was of of the few places which had one in the area. 

Ownership of the store changed hands several times throughout the years. Mary Lou and Bill McCullough tried their hands at store keeping for several years after Bill's retirement from the army. The business was then sold to Thelma Williams, mother of our own Bruce Williams  Bruce Hartz and Ray Pennington then took over the business making drastic changes to its appearance: the entrance was moved to its present location to make better access to the parking lot and the dual gas pumps were installed.

Bill and Sandy Gilliam purchased the business in the 1980's; added the glassed in room between the store and the Rector house and made everyone feel welcome. Following their decision to "live life a little more slowly", the Orlean Market went through a series of several owners whose visions for a "country store" did not fit the community exactly.

Now to the present: The Orlean Market, capably managed by Kia Kianersi and Porter Gaier with their dedicated staff, is working to return the store to a true community gathering place for everyone with different foods available (the deli and the restaurant), entertainment, a meeting room, local art classes, sponsorship of Celebrate Orlean, and generally to be an integral part of this place that we call "home".  We want you to visit and be a part of our Orlean family!