Wheelwright Shop in Old Sterling now a storage facility

Photos courtesy of Carole Case.

On the corner of 1014 Ruritan Circle and Ruritan Road (formally Railroad Ave.) there stands a building which was once two buildings comprising Oscar Thompson’s Saddlery and Flavius Tavenner’s Wheelwright Shop. The leather goods store and the wagons and coach specialty shop were established in the 1880’s and 1890’s respectively. Oscar was a well known leather goods maker of saddles, harnesses, stable gear and other equipment for horses and directly supported the carriage trade. Flavius was a fine wheelwright craftsman who built and repaired wooden wheels and coaches. The two businesses eventually went the way of the buggy whip and the buildings were left vacant around 1920.

Charles Page opened a Sterling Supply store at the Tavenner building in 1930. His son George Page, a country storekeeper, later modernized and connected the buildings and continued to manage the country supply and grocery store at the Tavenner location. He later moved Sterling Supply to his warehouse across the street. In 1954, George had his warehouse enlarged and outfitted with feed milling and grinding equipment. He then purchased a Southern States franchise, however maintained the grocery store in the Tavenner building until selling it in 1955.

His former grocery store was bought by George Marion Caylor who succeeded in operating his Sterling Market there until 1972. He maintained a penny candy counter that did a thriving business but was known best for his meat market, especially custom sausage. During the summer, he delighted the local folks with fresh fish specials.

Caylor took up residence in Sterling during his youth when he came to live with his grandparents’ on the Caylor Farm. Shaw Road, commonly known then as the back road to Herndon intersects the area that was farmed by the Caylor family.

The Sterling Market was a place to purchase groceries, stand around an old stove, drink the coldest beer in town and gossip. After the bigger chain stores began to open in the 1970’s, Sterling Market became more of a drive-by convenience store than a grocery store. Caylor eventually sold the store to Roland Blue in 1972 who then converted the market into a very successful lawn mower repair shop. Jeffery Mortellaro began working for Roland in 1975. Roland eventually sold the shop to Mortellaro in 1987.

A stone facing was added in 1996 as a cosmetic touch to enhance its faded appearance and Sterling Mower Repair remained at the old location for thirty years before moving across West Church Road to a new building on Shaw Road in 2001. The timeworn structure has been leased by a commercial contractor as a storage facility but the office has been vacant for 16 years and is a reminder of Old Sterling’s fading past.

Note: Mortellaro’s son Nick took over the business in 2005. Nick and Chris Dudley now run the family business at 22005 Shaw Road and are known for honest, fair and high quality service for most lawn equipment and outdoor power equipment. The Certified Master Technicians are trained at factory schools. This family owned business was established in “Old Sterling” in 1972.

I have bought and had my mowers repaired there since 1986 when I lived in Reston before moving to Sterling. Sterling Mower has many years of experience and knowledge and takes great pride in providing outstanding service and that “home town” one-on-one relationship with their customers. Their employees have excellent product knowledge and are willing to go above and beyond. I am a satisfied customer who can attest to it.