I have been a life long resident of Fredericksburg. When I was a kid, all of our department stores were down town. There were no “big box” stores. All of the retailers could only be in a little box downtown.

I remember when I was 6 there was a MAJOR shopping center that was going to be opening. It was the talk of the town. As I remember it, the Safeway grocery store was the largest on the east coast (the building is now used as a gym). The center was being built on the cross roads.

There was a house located on the corner. It was old and not in the best of shape. The owner was steadfast and would not sell. The rumor was that he was offered 10 times the value. but he would not sell. The center was built around it. That was in 1970.

The shopping center is still there. There is a Hardee’s to his right. His back yard is asphalt. The shopping center is not a prime location. Several shopping centers have been built three times the size of that one.

I rode by the house the other day. My real estate mind told me that the house was worthless as a residential property. The lot was too small for any commercial development. This property missed the market.

I felt pretty good with my assessment until something caught my eye. It was on his front porch. It was an American flag waving in the breeze. Then I got it…. It was HIS house, owned by HIS family for him to do what ever HE wanted.

So did he miss the prime market or did we miss it?