GATESVILLE — If you find yourself wandering the back roads of Brown County, you may also find yourself stepping back into days gone by.
Three years ago, Lori Morgan had a dream of opening an antique and vintage shop. In August 2020, she opened Somewhere in Time on Hoover Road, in a storefront that used to be a dilapidated pole barn that was her husband’s workshop.
Morgan has lived in Brown County for 35 years. She was a paramedic with Columbus Regional Hospital and then worked in the emergency room before retiring. Her husband of nearly 35 years, Chet, owned a sawmill from 1991 until last year, but still does some logging work.
She’s always loved antiques, and hunting at flea markets and sales is one of the couple’s favorite things to do. They’d also inherited many items over the years from family.
“You get so many, what can you do with them? A yard sale can only take care of so much,” she said.
“It’s turned into more than I anticipated.”
She curates the shop herself, with people stopping in and asking her to buy items and also people contacting her about purchasing things from estates.
“It’s interesting to see what comes in,” she said.
Handmade dishware, vintage perfume bottles, antique mirrors, books and more are all displayed in the shop. Her handpainted barn quilts — from her business called Barn Charms — also decorate walls inside and outside. She started painting barn quilts about 10 or 15 years ago. She made them as gifts, then started getting commissions.
Barn Charms will be on the Back Roads Studio Tour this year, and Somewhere in Time will be a sponsor.
In addition to her antique store being open Thursdays through Saturdays, she plans to host several events through the spring, summer and fall.
Somewhere in Time will be the host of Spring Blossoms and Bargains from May 6 to 8. Twenty local vendors will come together to sell art, jewelry, antiques, jerky, handmade items and more. “It’s gonna be good,” Morgan said, “There’s something for everyone.”
The idea for a vendor market first came last fall, when local antique dealers suggested an event because many didn’t know she was there.
“We tested it out in October and it was very well received,” Morgan said. They may repeat the sale in June.
Despite this past off-season’s lack of foot traffic in Brown County, Morgan said that local support has been wonderful.
“People are discovering me and finding out that I’m here from Google and Facebook and word of mouth,” she said. “I’ve got repeat customers now, which is good — and in a very short time. I’m pretty happy with the success that we’re having so far. I only anticipate that it’s going to get better.”
Being off the beaten path, Morgan said that she should have named her store “Seven Mile Antiques.” She’s seven miles up Salt Creek and seven miles from State Road 46 on Hoover Road. She stuck with “Somewhere in Time,” though, being a fan of the movie by the same name.
“Everything comes from somewhere in time,” she said. “Vintage, antiques — it all comes from the past. And I’m infatuated with the past.”
She loves all eras, but the Victorian era is “near and dear” to her heart.
“I just think that everything — the social graces, everything was so polite and so correct, disciplined — it was such a beautiful era. Everything was done to the hilt.” She believes our culture is losing social niceties from that age, such as calling cards and handwritten letters.
Now, she’s able to find gems from history and share them with customers. One of her favorite finds in her shop came from an estate sale: Indianapolis Star and Times newspaper issues from 1942 that were between floor rafters in an attic. With headlines detailing events of World War II, Morgan said they’re fascinating to read.
“It’s just incredible. Some of the ads and the stories? A pair of shoes was 19 cents. A car was maybe $600 or $700. A home was $3,000. … I just thought these were spectacular.”
Morgan’s love of antiques is matched by her love of connecting with people, meeting customers, hearing their stories and what brings them to her store. One of the reasons she finds that people visiting is that they want to “get off the beaten path” and travel back roads to see what they can find.
Morgan feels very fortunate to have the support of the community around her as well.
“It’s amazing how the people in Brown County (support) — which I’ve already known — but even more so when you put yourself out there to start a business and you’re not sure if that will be well-received or not,” she said. “So far, they’ve embraced us and been wonderful. I feel very blessed and very fortunate.”
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Location: 5737 Hoover Road
Hours: Thursdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Phone: 812-565-9364
Facebook: @teeksrus
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