Driving past the former Cash King building in the 1800 block of Santiam Highway, it's easy to characterize the demolition efforts as the latest step in Albany's march toward the future.

A number of stores have laid claim to the land. Some were there for only a short time, while others left a permanent impression on the community.

One of the most memorable stores for longtime residents was Dickson's Corral-- owned and operated by Earl Dickson and his wife, Mildred.

"It was some store, and there's never been another one quite like it," remembered Nell Moore, 88, of Albany. "I think most people went there out of curiosity because it was like hide-and-seek. You just never knew where things were from one day to the next.

"It was quite a thing to see."

Dickson purchased the land in 1939 from Mortz Averhoff, whose family had owned it for many years.

Dickson's Corral was started soon after and quickly become a landmark for residents looking to find good deals and a peculiar shopping experience.

On summer mornings when the weather was nice, Dickson, wearing a white tank top and pants rolled up to his knees, would shout out the day's big sales over a P.A. system from a platform he built in front of the store.

"He was out there auctioning and yelling at people to come into his store," Rod Tripp said. "Back when Albany was much smaller and you could keep track of the whole town, he pretty much was on the top of the list of memorable people."

The dirt-floored store "never seemed finished," Moore recalled, as the constant shuffling of products and the overall unpredictability of Dickson left customers guessing whether his methods were intentional.

"I always wonder if he had anything in mind when he ran that store," Moore said.

Albany historian Jerry Brenneman recalled going to Dickson's Corral when sugar, rationed during the war, was hard to come by for kids.

"When word got out there were candy bars at Dickson's, we used to race over there because they wouldn't last long," he said.

Even when Brenneman was stationed in Germany with the Army during the mid 1950s, Dickson was still garnering attention.

Donning a coonskin cap and pulling a donkey behind him, Dickson marched up and down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., as part of his coupon crusade. He had sparked the ire of manufacturers when he allowed his customers liberal use of coupons for products they were not intended for.

Dickson ultimately lost the battle, but his march on the capital landed him on the front page of Stars & Stripes-- the military's newspaper.

In 1958, Henry Ervin moved Ervin's Drugs in and started another long chapter in Albany's history. Eventually, Dickson's Corral closed its doors, allowing other businesses to leave their mark -- C&K Hardware, B&J Market, Richey's Market, Thriftway and Cash King-- to name a few .

On Friday, little remained in the location that Dickson helped transform into a landmark. A Jack in the Box fast-food restaurant will be built on part of the property, but no other projects are planned at this time.

"It was a little district, but it really was a historical part of the town," Moore said. "The old places just seem to be disappearing."