I really enjoy looking back at yesteryear. This is the reason you will find me poking around at various antique stores on the weekends.

I visited Church Street Antique Market, located at 1115 Elm Street SE, Covington, where I met Joan and Ann, “the ladies of the market.” That’s how their customers and vendors refer to them.

The place is a treasure trove of rare, almost forgotten items from our past, housed in a building built in 1886, when Covington was the hub of the cotton-growing economy in this part of Georgia.

At one time, the building was a bowling alley. If you look closely enough, there are still remnants of the narrow-planked wood floors where the pins were set. More recently, it was the long-time home of the Covington Furniture Company.

Today, the building is filled with keepsakes, which include a museum. Yes, a museum! Nestled in the back of the market, you can get a rare glimpse of items used in “The Dukes of Hazard” and “In the Heat of the Night”— both major TV series that used Newton County as their backdrop for filming.

I never grow tired of looking through items from a time long ago, from old metal lunch boxes of the 70s, to a great-grandmother’s pie safe built in the 1950s.

If you’re looking to spend a little time in town this week, visit Church Street Antique Market and enjoy the journey back in time.