The Gloucester Museum of History updated and refreshed its Old Country Store display, which has been at the museum for about 10 years.
Intern Sidney Ripley and museum coordinator Robert Kelly have been researching Gloucester County stores during the early 1900s for the past few months. There were over 50 country stores in Gloucester during this period with some of them housing post offices as well, and their stories are told in the exhibit through three different themes: commerce, community and connection.
“I am trying to bring awareness to this commu-nity’s stories of Gloucester stores and trying to keep these stories alive,” said Kelly.
Kelly explained that neighborhood stores provided commerce through giving the community access to food and specialty goods that may not have been easily produced at home. Some items these country stores provided were goods such as butter, coffee and fabrics. Through community, people are coming to these stores to not only buy items, but to also talk, ...