Wednesday, May 7
Since 1843, there has always been a general store by the bank of Sacketts Brook in Putney at the junction of Main Street and Kimball Hill.

The building that held the Putney General Store started out its life as a grist mill when it was built in 1769. The hand-hewn post and beam construction had stood for nearly 240 years before it was badly damaged by fire on Saturday night.

The old grist mill was converted into a general store in the 1840s. It started out as Chandler and Keyes (after its first proprietors, Peyton R. Chandler and Rollin W. Keyes) and housed the town's post office.

In the 1890s, it was bought out by Adelbert and Minnie Corser. In 1915, Simon and Nyra Davis of Westminster bought it and ran it for the next 34 years as the longest tenured owners of the store.

The S.L Davis store wasn't the only market in Putney in the first half of the 20th century. Old timers still remember when Mellen's Store, the Putney Fruit Company, Cory's Market and General Store, and the then-new Putney Consumers Cooperative all were in business in the early 1940s. Those were the days when shopping was done locally by necessity.

S.L. Davis' store became the Cummings

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Store in 1949, after Oscar and Bessie Cummings bought it. It became Fickett's General Store in 1966, and Albert and Mary Fickett ran it until they sold it to Robert and Anne Fairchild in 1974, who renamed it the Putney General Store.

After 26 years, Dan Mitnik and Shari Gliedman bought the store from the Fairchilds in 2000, and Erhan Oge became the latest owner in 2006.

Through many hands this store in Putney has passed. It's a not uncommon story among Vermont country stores, which have had to constantly adapt to changing tastes and lifestyles as the years have passed.

General stores once were the only place to buy provisions, a role that's now given over to supermarkets, shopping centers and hardware stores. But one role of country stores still remains -- as a gathering place, where people can meet with friends and neighbors and catch up with the news around town.

Places like the Putney General Store define the small villages of Vermont. And even though the tools and overalls have been replaced by Ben & Jerry's, gourmet coffee and DVDs, they still are central to a town's identity and add more character than any chain convenience store can.

It's hard to imagine Putney without a store by the bank of Sacketts Brook. The quick work of firefighters Saturday saved much of the general store from destruction. Oge said Monday he wants rebuild and reopen once more, and town and state officials are ready to pitch in and help.

We hope the store comes back soon. Putney just wouldn't be the same without it.