The History of General Stores in Granby

During the mid to late nineteenth century, general stores were generally the first business establishments built in a town. They were the gathering places for townspeople and farmers where they could buy items like hardware, food items in bulk, clothing items, and seed for planting.

The old-time country store however, had a lot more than merchandise. There was a pot-bellied stove, and a barrel of common crackers within reach of whoever had the time for chatting and a liking for the warmth of a hickory fire. The day after the first frost, when the old country store fired up that big pot-bellied stove, usually marked the beginning of winter. That was the time of the year when the screen door was taken down and stacked away in the back room; chairs were taken in from the porch and placed around the stove with a new barrel of those crackers.

The general store, like we discussed in a recent article, was quite often the place of the local . A large inventory of goods was always kept on hand, with deliveries coming in by horse-drawn wagon and later also by train, on a regular basis, mainly in bulk packages. If a storeowner had time, he would deliver goods to farmers and others, but most people would come to town regularly with horse and wagon to take their purchases home.

The main floor was used to display retail merchandise, and storeowners used every available nook and cranny to maximize storage. Shelves rose to the ceiling to organize the largest amount and variety of items, while excess or specialty items tended to be stacked on the floor, on counters, upturned boxes, barrels, bins, or situated on ceiling hooks.  Items like coffee, tea, spices, rice, beans, flour, sugar, salt, cornmeal, crackers, molasses, kerosene, and others in bulk quantities were purchased by storeowners, weighed on large scales, and measured into boxes, crockery containers and bags to sell in desired quantities to customers. Pre-packaged or canned items like peaches, sardines, and oysters were popular in general stores. Larger items such as farm equipment, tools, bathtubs, cook stoves, and sewing machines were special ordered for customers. 

The first general merchandise store in Granby Center was probably owned by Pliny Hillyer in the 1770s. By the 1790s Hillyer took Jeptha Curtiss as his partner in running the store and they together did an astonishing volume of business in a wide range of goods. As well as being licensed “spirits” dealers, they sold glass, wool cards, silverware, hats, gloves, clothe, buttons, kitchen utensils and gadgets, sheet lead, china tea sets, chamber pots, wine glasses, “Irish linen,” tools, hardware, coffee, tea, spices, tobacco and to service Granby’s boom, nails by the cask. To acquire these items, they sent agent to Hartford, Boston and New York, carrying wagon loads of rye, corn, wool, cider brandy, beef, pork and cheese which local farmers brought to them in exchange for their new standard of living.

From Hillyer’s papers it is also apparent he acted as a pawn broker, loaning out money and holding as collateral such things as a saddle for $9.86. Furthermore, his store seems to have served as a local clearing house for IOUs farmers passed among each other in place of currency.

Meanwhile in North Granby, the business center was the area located around the Cragg grist mill (located at near today’s Silver Street bridge). In addition to the grist operation, the area was humming with activity from a sawmill, shoe manufacturing, a tan house and by 1808, a tavern on the newly chartered .

 The original store was built by James Kilbourn across from Lost Acres Road. He later sold it to Abner Case who developed it into a thriving enterprise. He purchased a nearby farm, bought a share in the grist mill, went into business with John Willey who started a blacksmith shop and a cider-brandy distillery. Together these men became quite wealthy, surviving an early 19^th century depression and replaced Pliney Hillyer as the principal loan agency in Granby by holding thousands of dollars in mortgages in the 1820s.

The West Granby center store had many owners over the years including Mr. Nearing in the 1840s, the Peck family in the 1870s and F.B. Case around the turn of the 20^th century.

The location was on Simsbury Road across the street from the old Kendall Hotel.

The largest general store however in Granby’s history was that which was run by Chester and James Loomis who purchased the business from Mr. Phelps 1856. This was likely the 18^th century store started by Pliny Hillyer and eventually a part of the multiple pieces of real estate that Loomis Brothers owned in Granby center. The Loomis boys started out as store clerks and saved their money to buy the business when they thought their time was right. They expanded the Salmon Brook Street store in 1864 into a magnificent Greek Revival structure that even included a meeting hall on the second floor. The fire burned the first Loomis Brothers store down in 1877 unfortunately also meant the loss of many of Granby’s early town records which were located there. In 1891 the Loomis boys built their third and finest store. Check back with Patch in the future for more about the Loomis Brothers and their impact on Granby.

Today, the only remaining store building is located in North Granby center at 380 N. Granby Road. This lovely old structure was erected in 1900 is currently used as apartments although it still retains much of the classic architectural elements of the New England general store that was a meeting place and the heart of the community. Its getting a little cold out, might be time to fire up that old pot-bellied stove don’t you think?