Located on a stretch of the old Staunton Parkersburg Pike in the village of McDowell, Virginia, Sugar Tree Country Store is nestled at the base of the Bullpasture Mountain, on the fork of Crab Run and the Bullpasture River. McDowell is the oldest town in Highland County.

 Surrounding the store are the stately homes built by the Hull family in the 1840's and 1850's. The Hull family operated a store as early as 1847 when Highland County was formed from parts of Augusta, Pendleton and Bath counties. Hull's Store appears on the 1847 map of Highland County. George Washington Hull built the store building sometime prior to 1854 when his father Peter Hull specified in his will that the house and store house be included in the acreage left to him. The house mentioned is the brick "Mansion House" immediately to the west of Sugar Tree County Store.

 George Washington Hull died of typhoid in April of 1862, less than a month before the Battle of McDowell on May 8. His wife Sarah A. Hull owned the property until she was forced to sell at public auction on August 11, 1883.

 Under a number of owners and tenant shopkeepers, the store operated as a general store and post office for many years. Older members of the community remember it as a place where they would stop on their way to school to drop off snared rabbits or eggs to be exchanged for groceries, dry goods, and hopefully a piece of candy. Others remember dressing up to visit with friends and family around the wood stove on Friday evenings.  A popular story is told of how loitering was kept to a minimum. It has been passed on that anyone sitting on the counter too long  had a pin pushed through from underneath.

 After the death of storekeeper E.A. McNulty in the 1950's, his clerk George Hogshead built a new store and post office and the original store closed it's doors to the public. For more than thirty years the building stood vacant except for the use of an upstairs apartment. In 1986 the store was reopened by new owners Jim and Lorraine White who chose the name Sugar Tree Country Store in honor of the town's original name of Sugar Tree Grove (the town was renamed McDowell in honor of a Former State Governor from the 1840's.).

 In January of 2005, Sugar Tree Country Store passed to new caretakers, Glenn & Fern Heatwole. The Heatwoles approach the store with a long history and experience of farming. With their family working alongside them, they are eager to put their own stamp on Sugar Tree. The Heatwoles celebrate old time family togetherness and faith in God.

 The store building has been described as a classic mid 19th century structure featuring a two story front porch. It has been featured in two books, American Country Stores by Bruce Roberts and Ray Jones and Virginia’s Country Stores, A Quiet Passing by Joseph E. Morse. A photograph from the early 1900's shows a door to the left of each of the three second story windows opening on to a narrow shelf cantilevered from the building. All traces of this fixture have been removed and it's use is unknown. An early addition to the rear of the store had all but disappeared when the maple sugar house was added in its place in 1986.

 Today you can step back in time with a visit to Sugar Tree Country Store. Sit on the front porch or warm yourself by the potbelly stove on a cold day. Lean on the store counter complete with brass register and glass display case or marvel at the unusually low walnut banister on the steps leading upstairs. Feel the history and see where previous shopkeepers split their kindling on the newel posts. 

 The shop features maple products and apple butter made on the premises as well as locally made pottery. Also available are baskets, American folk toys, and homemade woven rugs. Sugar Tree Country Store is located next door to The Mansion House, which is the information center for the McDowell Battlefield.

For more information on the history of Highland County, visit The Highland Historical Society