The House That Fay Built

It wasn’t long before business picked up and Underwood was able to expand his lines and knowledge in the business.

“I was the first gemologist in the state – but no one knew who I was,” Underwood says. “But the store started building on that background after four or five years.”

With that success came the need for more floor space. Underwood’s good friend E. Fay Jones was also in the need for more spacious working quarters.

“When I met Fay Jones, he was well known then. He had an office where the [Walton] Arts Center is now,” Underwood says. “It was the grossest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Jones’ office was located above a Studebaker dealership in a rundown white building on the second floor of the dealer offices, Underwood says.

“Fay needed a showplace and I needed an architect. So Fay and I got together and he took his fee in the form of reduced rent and has been my tenant for 31 years,” he says. The Underwood building immediately became one of Dickson Street’s landmark structures and today still remains “flawless.

“It still seems new to us,” he says. “It has been a great showcase.”