Barnard General Store
Celebrates 175 Years
By Kim Furlong

The Barnard Beneral Store, left, was a busy place in this vintage photo taken during the early teens of the last century. It is speculated that it was taken around the Fourth of July. The store is 175 years old this year. The two buildings across the road no longer exist, however. Photo provided by Kim Furlong.

This weekend, the Barnard General Store will celebrate 175 years in the community as one of Vermont’s oldest continuously operating general stores. A full day of celebration events is described elsewhere in this paper.

"Bernard," Vermont was chartered in 1761. That’s right, Bernard! Samuel Topliff, who served as Town clerk for 30 years, commencing in 1798, misspelled the town name, changing it from Bernard to Barnard. It has stayed that way since.

It is a challenge to imagine the early days of Barnard when the population in 1790 was 673 and soared to a record 1,830, according to the 1881 census. (Twice what it is today!) This population boom helped to create a business district in the village that centered around Pond Brook, which was used to generate power.

In 1794, a dam was built where the road crossed Pond Brook. This dam served as a bridge to unite the northern and southern halves of the village. The pond we now know as Silver Lake became Stebbings’ Pond, named after Benjamin Stebbings, who was instrumental in building a mill at the outlet of the pond.

In its prime, the village of Barnard had a gristmill, two sawmills, a tannery, a blacksmith shop, a marble shop, a wheelwright, and two carding mills, all located on the banks of Pond Brook below the dam. Imagine all this located behind where the fire station (which was the old blacksmith shop) and library now stand. Elsewhere in the village, there was a boarding house, a tontine building, a bowling alley, a printing press, a shoe shop, a carriage shop, a cabinet maker’s shop, two hotels, a harness shop and several grocery stores, all doing a thriving business.

In the general store today hangs a photo of the center of town in its hey-day with the American flag flying high, some of our first automobiles, the general store, Silver Lake and the old hotel across the street. This hotel, The Caryl, was built in 1832 by Rodney C. Caryl. It later became known as the Silver Lake House. When it was owned by Celim French between 1850-88, it had its most glorious days as a summer resort. The hotel was torn down in 1936.

Carolyn and I have enjoyed visiting with folks who have lived here their whole lives and those who travel back to the store, to recapture their childhood memories. It is interesting to hear what they remember about the store—who was running it at the time, what they came in routinely to buy, the different personalities of each store owner as well as the changes each owner made to the fabric of the store.

Throughout the years, it has taken entire families to run the general store. It was one of the ways to survive difficult times, as well as a conscious choice, for families, from the youngest to the oldest, to work together. We are grateful for the experience that working at the Barnard General Store has provided all six of our children. It has been an experience that has helped each of them develop skills that will benefit them throughout their lifetime. Working together for a common good, what could be better?

There have been many trials and much difficulty through the years of operating the Barnard General Store. Shortly after opening in 1832, the population of the town declined by 200 people, who moved south to Ware, Mass. to work in new mills that were opening there. It was hard to make a living here in Vermont. The winters were long and the growing season short. In 1830 there were 658 students enrolled in the collection of one-room school houses scattered throughout town. Now there are fewer than 80.

The flood of 1927 that devastated considerable acreage in Vermont made it difficult to sustain business. The hurricane of 1938 left the town isolated without electricity and telephone. The Silver Lake Hotel, which had been prosperous and attracted tourists, did not do well after the turn of the century.

Transportation affected the well-being of the Barnard General Store as well. The railroad bypassed Barnard and the manufacturing that had begun in the early 19^th century had significantly depleted before the middle of the same century. When Interstate 89 was completed, shopping in the big city was made easier and took away the weekly shopper.

Business did improve when the Silver Lake State Park opened in 1954. A girls riding camp was opened where the Barnard Inn now stands, just south of the village, and operated there for 24 years. East of the village, a private ski area opened up in 1967, which is now Twin Farms, and a second campground opened in 1970, but has since closed. Snowmobiles have become a form of recreation that brings good commerce in the winter.

There are always challenges in business, and running a general store in today’s economy is as challenging as ever. We live in a world of excess. Shopping is now a pastime where people look for the biggest, the fastest and the cheapest, where can you get more for your dollar. The box stores and "chain stores" have almost destroyed small businesses and most certainly small town general stores.

We do not have the buying power to provide inexpensive choices for basic needs. What we can provide, however, is what some would call "the heart of a community." We at the Barnard General Store are proud of our role in the community and enjoy being the stewards of a very special place, indeed. We offer a place to meet new people and enjoy old friends in our cafe. We strive to offer the basic provisions to get you by until your big shopping day, as well as healthy, delicious choices in our deli and bakery. The history and the lives that have been woven into the fabric of this store are something all of Barnard can be proud of.

There are examples all around us of businesses that fail because the community does not support them. Thank you, Barnard, and surrounding communities for keeping us healthy!

We invite everyone to join us Saturday, Aug. 4 as we celebrate the 175^th anniversary of the Barnard General Store and the community that supports us.

Special thanks to Andy Cole, who provided the historical facts.

History of the Store

The Barnard General Store, at the southeast corner of the junctions of Creek, Gulf Road (now Route 12), Stage and North Roads, was established in 1832. It was originally a union (cooperative) store. Joseph B. Danforth purchased the store, followed by his son, William Cullen Danforth who ran it from 1857–82. It was then owned by James and Thomas Trevillian, who clerked for Danforth, from 1882–1900. Edwin Wells owned it briefly from 1900-02 and then Pelea Hadley stayed with it from 1902-09.

E. Holmes and Frank H. Thayer purchased the store in 1909 in the same year Frank’s wife, Jeannie, became postmaster in Barnard. Frank and Jennie’s son, Forrest, and his wife, Thelma, first helped in the store and then owned it from 1926-45. At that time, it was purchased by Walter and Edith Miller who operated it from 1945-55. It was then owned briefly by Wallace deGiacomo and George Price who sold it to James and & Margaret Maynes in 1956.

The store was sold to Harry and Naomi Hull and in 1960, they sold it to their daughter and son in-law, Joan and Ralph Lessard, who owned it until 1972. That year, they sold it to Thurston Twigg-Smith Sr., who operated it for a year and then sold the business only to Bob Nye, who operated it until 1976. The store was then sold to Terry and Sue Harlow. In 1987, Walter and Virginia Green purchased the store. They sold it in 1994 to Carolyn and Ted DiCicco, after Walters’ death. In 2001, Carolyn became the owner and has been operating the store with her partner, Kim Furlong, since 1996. The property was sold to William Twigg-Smith in 2004 and the general store continues to be owned and operated by Carolyn DiCicco and Kim Furlong.