By Walter Lunt
For as long as anyone can remember it was known as Windham’s
Old Grocery. For the last 20 years it has served as a museum, a replica of its
earlier time, featuring displays of the services and products it brought to the
community. It will continue to do so in its new location on the grounds of the
Windham Historical Society’s Village Green history park. The wood-framed
building’s 182-year span at the old Windham Center address saw just five owners
– the longest, three generations of the Hawkes family from 1845 to 1954. It is
probably Windham’s oldest commercial structure.
The earliest historical record reveals the building was
relocated from somewhere on Windham Center Road (possibly near the intersection
with Nash Road) to a leased lot at the corner of Gray Road (Route 202) and
Windham Center Road in 1838 by William Goold and used as a tailor shop. Around
1840, Goold purchased wood carvings of oak tree branches adorned with leaves
and acorns from the original St. Paul’s Church in Portland, which was being torn
down. He affixed them to his (Old Grocery) shop’s façade. The ornate carvings
were believed to be created in England some time before 1802. Goold was also an
author and historian, and later wrote in his book Portland in the Past,
“The beauty of Old St. Paul’s was its interior. The most elaborate
ornamentation was in the chancel (which) I have preserved. The oak symbolized
the English parentage of the church.” The carvings remain on the building to
this day – some restoration will be needed to bring the features back to their
former luster.
Alley Hawkes purchased the building in 1845 and established a
cobbler shop. Later, he partnered with Thomas Hawkes, selling grain and
groceries in the front of the store and shoemaking in the rear. When shoemaking was no longer profitable, the business expanded into a
grocery and general store. A post office was added with Alley acting as
postmaster. The store was, for decades, a 19th century version of
the local mom and pop store. Windham historian Samuel Dole described Alley, at
the time of his death in 1890, as the “best known trader in town.”
Believed to be one of two general
stores at Windham Center about 1880.
Ad on the wall over the seated
gentleman promotes the use of
Adamson's Botanic Cough Balsam,
a cold and cough concoction sold
as a remedy for childhood coughs and
colds. One ingredient proved to be
heroin hydrochloride, later banned.
COURTESY OF WINDHAM
HSTORICAL SOCIETY
Opening almost simultaneously across the street from Alley’s
Hawkes’ store in the early 1850s, Stephen Staples opened a similar
establishment. The two stores were in competition, and in what must have been a
very partisan time, Democrats patronized the Staple’s store while Republicans
supported Alley Hawkes’ store.
Years later when Staples closed his store, Fred S. Hawkes, son
of Alley Hawkes, opened a grocery store on the site. All told, three
generations of Hawkes family members were storekeepers at Windham Center corner
for over 100 years.
A typical general store of the 19th and early 20th century was generally warm and welcoming. Patrons and proprietors usually knew each other and were on a first name basis. Customer contact often lingered beyond the financial transaction as visitors sought to catch up on local news and community gossip – or maybe engage in a game of checkers near the pot-bellied coal or wood stove. Store interiors tended to be dark as there were usually few side windows. Shelving, stocked high and jammed with all manner of goods lined all the walls; boxes, barrels and bins took up most of the floor space. Next to the scales for weighing merchandise was the limited counter area reserved for point of purchase. Customers could buy just about anything: locally produced perishables, flour, sugar, spices, baking powder, cigars & tobacco, tools, crockery and dry goods, patent medicines and elixirs. Molasses was a big seller – often more than a hogshead (about 60 gallons) would be sold in a single day. Vinegar cider, crackers and cheese were a favorite for the road. Cleanliness was not a priority; dirt and even animal waste was dragged in from the street – soot from the stove settled on the merchandise. On occasion, a proprietor would extend credit or barter with trustworthy patrons.
The mid-1950s saw the end of Hawkes general stores at Windham
Center. The ‘Old Grocery’ closed in 1954; two years later, the building was
deeded over to a local garden club that used it as a meeting place for many
years. Following declining membership, the club turned the building over to
Windham Center Stage Theater, which was unable to raise funds to make necessary
repairs to the aging structure. Finally, ownership was transferred to the
Windham Historical Society.
After hundreds of hours of fund raising and volunteer work, the
Society completed badly needed repairs and renovations and opened the building
as the Old Grocery Museum in 2000. Items once sold in its past life were
returned as historical displays. But lack of parking and pedestrian safety
concerns hampered the development of programs.
On Oct. 30, the Old Grocery was lifted off its ancient stone foundation and rolled up Windham Center Road to join a number of other historic buildings that combine as the Windham Living History Park, keeper of the historical record. <
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