Hecht left but returned to Bristol in 1904 and opened a small bakery on Sixth near Shelby. It seems that even though he came back in 1904, he didn’t open the bakery until Nov. 27, 1905.

In 1965, the branding of the company’s well-known Sunbeam bread changed to “Hecht’s Purity Maid” bread. The bakery produced bread for grocery stores and supermarkets in Bristol, Roanoke ...