The Country Store

The Country Store. . , Prior to World War II, Americans patronized general stores that dotted the countryside, often at popular rural crossroads. The Darby Store, built in 1910 by Harry C. Darby sold mercantile goods to local residents and travelers alike., Although rural Americans were generally self-sufficient in the past, they still sought supplies that could only be conveniently purchased in a general store. Shopkeepers kept ledgers (account books) in which they recorded items they sold, the distributor's name, and names of the customers and their account status. Based on the Darby store ledgers, the top selling commodities were flour, sugar, soap, vegetables, lard, clothing items (both finished goods and fabric), cheese, cleaning products, salmon, and of course, candy., General stores were more than just a place to shop. Often local post offices were located within the building, as was the case at Darby Store. Customers could catch up on town gossip, discuss the impact of weather on the crop, and wait to hear state and national news during times of war and peace. The store's inviting front porch was welcoming to conversations and other social activities such as impromptu concerts and games of dice and cards., The rise of the large department stores through the 20th century expedited the demise of small general stores throughout the United States, and often led to their removal from the rural landscape along with auxiliary features such as gas pumps, telephone booths, and sheds. The Darby Store closed in the 1960s and remained vacant until 2004 when M-NCPPC purchased the 25-acre property. Rehabilitation of the store, moving it onto a new foundation of 27 feet back from the intersection, and restoring the interior furnishings were completed in 2015., Store Architecture , The Darby Store typifies the late 19th-early 20th-century vernacular design of rural general stores then found throughout the county. They were usually a simple, rectangular, two-story frame structure. The front gabled roof often featured a decorative window. The main floor held large plate-glass display windows where advertisements could be posted. An open interior plan included a spacious first floor with a center aisle flanked by glass or wood counters, walls lined with shelves and drawers, a pot belly stove, a patterned tin ceiling, and a back room for accounting. Second floors were used for storage (as in the case here), bookkeeping, or for homes for the merchant., [Caption:] , the Darby Store carried merchandise from local, state, and national vendors.