A 1912 newspaper article stated "there was a good school in operation with about 75 pupils enrolled and some twenty families settled on the original purchase. The Seaboard Air Line has a regular station there, named Stallings, and all prospects bid fair to make this locality of much future importance. Mr. Stallings will be glad to offer special inducements to manufacturers or others desiring sites for plants or permanent homes." A few years later a new store was built across the road, and the old store building was used for a Methodist church and a schoolhouse. The one-room schoolhouse was located where a large industry, AEP, is now located. Stallings Methodist Church was started about 1911, largely through the efforts of P. D. and Margaret Drye, and the first pastor was the Rev. L. W. Self. A new Methodist Church was built in 1912 and the old building was torn down. In 1919 the church was struck by lightning and burned. A bucket brigade was formed but the building could not be saved. The church was immediately rebuilt and that building remains today. The store business changed ownership at least four times over the next fifty years. It burned to the ground once and was rebuilt. It was always known as the Country Store, furnishing the community with groceries, feed and notions during the day, and serving as a gathering place in the evenings. Mr. Jim Smith owned and operated the store from 1916 until 1948. "Mr. Jim" was also one of the largest farmers in the area, and his farm still exists today as Smith Brothers Farm. The store was finally torn down and a strip of small businesses built in its place.