(Not So) General Stores: The Old Country Store and Museum
Take a journey throughout the Granite State, and visit the Old Country Store and Museum and seven other of New Hampshire's unique General Stores
What makes a general store more than a place to buy pantry items and run into the neighbor down the street? It’s a family-centric quality; it’s an “everyone is welcome here, browse-at-will” vibe; it offers feelings of warm nostalgia while placing a strong emphasis on serving the local community. We feature eight stores on the following pages that celebrate that feeling of community and nostalgia in just the right amounts.
Read more about some of NH’s (not so) general stores:
Harrisville Country Store- Harrisville
Ira Miller’s General Store – Milton Mills
Calef’s Country Store – Barrington
Zeb’s General Store – North Conway
Newfields General Store – Newfields
Mont Vernon General Store – Mont Vernon
The moment you open the door of the Old Country Store and Museum, you take a step back in time. One of the oldest general stores in the United States, The Old Country Store and Museum has been a staple of the Lakes Region, and the heartbeat of Moultonborough, since 1781.
“It originally started out as a trading store,” said the store’s owner, Jo Hayden. “It was also a tavern, the town meeting hall and the post office, along with being a trading store.”
Working at the general store is a family affair. Hayden’s parents, Stephen and Cecile Holden, bought the store in 1972, when she was 8 years old.
“It’s been our family business,” Hayden said. “We lived upstairs in the apartment above (the general store). It’s been my life. I’ve had a couple of jobs on the side, but I’ve always worked here — I’ve worked here for 53 years.”
Hayden took over the store’s helm this past year, following her father’s passing in January. Her dad, she said, basically worked at the store until the day he died, and her mom decided to stop working last year. Today, Hayden, along with her daughter-in-law and her sister Laurie, carry on the store’s long legacy.
Working at and owning the Old Country General Store and Museum is second nature for Hayden. She was born into it, and spent every summer and weekend working at, and running, the store.
“Owning a business is your life,” Hayden said. “We’re a local business, but we’re also a tourist business, so we’re open seven days a week for 362 days a year.”
Preserving storied history of the space is at the heart of the store. The antique atmosphere is a major draw for visitors and locals alike.
“We keep it the old way,” Hayden said. “We still use our antique cash registers from 1891. We also add everything by hand. We don’t have internet or anything — our inventory is done by hand. If someone buys 10 items, we add it all up on a paper bag…. You just don’t find that anywhere. We do take credit cards, but all cash goes into our antique registers.”
Inside the general store, visitors can find hidden treasures and fan favorites galore. Between the penny candy counter and stocked shelves of jams, jellies, soaps, candles and more, there’s something for everyone. Some items that Hayden can’t seem to keep on the shelves? Their aged Vermont cheddar and dill pickles in a barrel.
“We have thousands and thousands of items, but those are the two things that people come back for again and again,” Hayden said.
If visitors are looking for something truly unusual, they’ve come to just the right place. Beside the register, the Old Country General Store and Museum sells Cecile’s handmade pickled limes.
“It was in the book “Little Women,” Hayden said. “(People) used to get them on the beach, and they used to be used to help scurvy in the Navy. It was something old and unique.”
Being close to Lake Winnipesaukee means that Hayden has gotten to enjoy seeing generations of lake-goers visit the store over the years. It’s one of her favorite things about working at the general store.
“I love to see the generations of people coming back every year,” Hayden said. “Every summer they come back and they recognize me, but I don’t necessarily recognize them all the time. I’m always here, but it’s fun to see families. I also enjoy buying things and seeing what sells.”
The store itself, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, serves as a living museum, and if you head upstairs, you’ll find a museum dedicated to antique tools, which was her father’s specialty.
“When you walk in, you’re walking into an old store, and everything is how it was to begin with,” Hayden said. “As you go up to the museum, the stairs are all indented from all the thousands of people that have gone
up there.”
1011 Whittier Highway, Moultonborough, nhcountrystore.com
