An empty plot of land in the heart of Bena has a future as the site of the Guinea Museum, as planned by the Guinea Heritage Association. It also has a rich heritage of its own.

Facing Bena Corner at the intersection of Guinea and Mark Pine roads, with the post office on one front and the historic Buck Rowe’s store facing it from another direction, the site once hummed with business.

According to a history from the heritage group, J. Edgar Pointer Sr. built the garage in the 1930s, then J. Carlyle Brown enlarged it and established a Studebaker dealership, from an era of 70 years ago, or so, when small communities still had big garages in their midst.

Brown owned the Studebaker agency for 19 years, and subsequently became transportation manager for Gloucester County Public Schools, retiring after 17 years in 1975, according to his obituary in 1982. In his early years, the former dealership building took on a new role as the county bus garage. Brown was also a leader in Bethlehem...