Our Story
A landmark that keeps finding its way back.
Since 1913 Onward Store has closed a few times and reopened every time. Here's how that happened, and what comes next.
1902
Where the Teddy Bear was born.
A few miles from this crossroads, President Theodore Roosevelt joined a bear hunt led by Holt Collier. Collier was one of the most respected hunting guides of his time and was born into slavery. When the dogs cornered an exhausted black bear and it was tied to a tree for the president, Roosevelt refused to shoot. He said it wasn't sporting.
A Washington Post cartoon made the moment famous. A Brooklyn shopkeeper asked permission to name a stuffed bear after the president, and the “Teddy Bear” went on to be loved around the world.
A hundred years, a few lives
More than one comeback.
- 1902
The bear hunt
President Theodore Roosevelt joins a Delta bear hunt led by guide Holt Collier. He refuses to shoot a cornered, tied bear, and the story becomes the Teddy Bear.
- 1913
The store opens
Onward Store opens to serve the farming community of Onward in Sharkey County. Over the years it's a general store, service station, post office and café.
- 2012
The first comeback
Mollie and Billy Van Devender restore the building with reclaimed barn lumber, bring back the old gas pumps and reopen it as a store and café.
- 2021
The second comeback
Avery and Jake Howell sell their Colorado home to reopen the Comeback Café for locals and Highway 61 road-trippers.
- Today
Miriam's chapter
Miriam Bowden, a Delta native with deep family roots here, is rebuilding the store as a community gathering place: a deli counter, local goods, and a home for Delta history and blues culture.
The newest chapter
“I've bet my future on this store.”
— Miriam Bowden, owner (Mississippi Today, 2025)
Miriam is rebuilding Onward plank by plank so a hundred-year-old gathering place stays open: a working deli counter, a general store stocked with goods from local makers, and a spot for farmers, hunters and Highway 61 travelers who have always stopped at this corner.
Onward isn't dressed up to look historic. It just is. Everyone's welcome at the counter.
Hungry on Highway 61?
Order ahead and pick up hot.
Place your order online through Toast, or give us a call and we'll have it ready when you pull up.