Barber Shop

One of the first barbers in early Rich Hill was a man named "Pappy" Henry May. This story is from Ed McQuitty memoirs in 1955.

"Pappy" May stepped off one of the first passenger trains to arrive in Rich Hill. In his late seventies with snowy hair he was as chipper as a youngster of school age.

It was said of him that on his arrival here his only posses­sions were a razor, a strop, a home and a shaving mug. Within a week he had built a ten by ten shop where the Memorial library building is now located and was doing business.With nerves as steady as a youngish matron at a country quilting he was able to give a customer the "once over" before the word "next" had time to echo through the when the old gentleman would douse a badly soiled rag, previously used in cleaning his kerosene lamp, into a pail of rain water with which to wipe off the excess lather.