Standing on the front porch of the Wexford General Store Antique Center, it’s not difficult to imagine this street as it was near the end of the nineteenth century; a busy wooden-plank-lined thoroughfare traveled by horse-drawn vehicles. The atmosphere created by the spirit of the building itself joins with that of the buildings across the way. Cole’s Tavern and its neighbor, the old barn, are peers of the General Store housing… siblings, if you will. In the late 1840s, Cole’s Tavern was The Wexford Hotel, and the old barn served as stables and shelter for many a cart and carriage. Settled on this little street, the hotel and the Wexford General Store provided an oasis-like respite for weary stagecoach travelers, farmers herding livestock to the city, and many, many other wanderers.
In its lifetime, the General Store building has changed in size by being added onto at some time, then having sections removed at other times. It has also handled many different businesses and changed ownership many times over. The building has housed a creamery, a feed mill, a slaughterhouse, a butcher shop, a post office, and a smithy. All the while maintaining the original General Store, front and center.
The story begins with Ambrose Schaffer, who was the first landowner on record for the land on which the General Store sits today. In the mid-1800s, a tavern owned by Schaffer stood approximately where the general store is today. (Although the existing structure appears to be old enough, it is not known if it is the same building that housed the tavern.)
Ambrose Schaffer died in 1855, and by 1872, his son-in-law Ignatius Brooker had obtained the land. By 1876, Brooker had constructed a store on the site, possibly by adding to the old tavern. Located on what was the Perrysville-Zelienople Plank Road and directly across from the Wexford Hotel (also built and owned by Ignatius Brooker), the Wexford General Store was very popular.
When Ignatius Brooker died in 1884, ownership of the store passed to his sons, Joseph and Henry, who sold the WGS to Mary Borbonus in 1887. She owned it until 1890 when she sold it to Peter Callahan. Peter, his wife Emma, four of their children, and Peter’s older sister Mary lived on the premises. Callahan remodeled and enlarged the store, adding the creamery, feed mill, slaughterhouse, and butcher shop, creating a 150-foot-long facility. (Remnants of Callahan’s slaughterhouse still remain in a room on the northeast side of the old building.)
In 1900, Peter and Emma sold the General Store to Peter’s sister Mary, although Peter continued to manage the store. In 1906 Mary Callahan sold the General Store to Joseph Cole. Several members of the Cole family had settled in old Wexford. Joseph’s brother John Cole owned and operated the Wexford Hotel across the street. Joseph, his wife Susan, and their daughter Emma lived above the General Store.
Joseph owned the General Store for 20 years. It was during this time that the blacksmith shop came into the picture. The floor in the area was made of brick so that “if anything dropped to the floor there wouldn’t be any fire.” That brick floor still survives.
Joseph managed the business until 1922. Later, as automobiles took the place of horses, gasoline pumps were installed in front of the store. After Joseph and Susan’s daughter Emma married Edgar Wright, the newlyweds moved into an apartment on the second floor of the store. Edgar Wright managed the business for his father-in-law until 1926, when Joseph sold the store to Edward Riffle of Mt. Lebanon. Riffle eliminated the creamery, slaughterhouse, blacksmith shop, and feed mill, to focus only on the general store business. He also removed 50 feet from the eastern side of the long building. These business decisions resulted in financial difficulties and in 1930 the property was foreclosed and sold at Sheriff’s Sale to Blaine Stoner of Verona. A.R. Mechling and his son Ralph managed the General Store for Stoner until he sold it in 1944 to James and Virginia Moore.
During the Mechlings’ proprietorship, a potbellied coal stove was a warm attraction and natural gathering place in the center of the main room on the first floor where groceries were sold. A rolling ladder along the wall shelves enabled clerks to reach items stacked high overhead. Above the main room was an open area surrounded by a second-floor balcony where dry goods were displayed. The northern portion of the first floor was devoted to hardware, and the butcher shop was in the rear. The shopping method was not “self-serve” as we take for granted today. The customer would tell the clerk what was wanted or bring a list. The worker gathered the items and packed them and tallied the bill.
Moore modernized the old general store and added new lighting, self-service, and grocery carts. He continued to sell groceries, meats, vegetables, feed, hardware, work clothes, and shoes. There were still two entrances: a northern one to the hardware section and a southern one to the grocery store. At first, the Moores and their children Sally and Hugh lived on Manor Road in Pine, but in 1954 they moved into the living quarters in the rear of the second floor of the store.
Being the “only game in town”, as it were, for so long, enabled the General Store business to thrive for over a century. But as we all know now, Progress creates Change. Supermarkets started popping up in the 1960s, and there was no winning that battle for a little fish in a big pond… James and Virginia Moore owned and ran the Wexford General Store for 20 years, before selling it to Wexford Real Estate Inc. in 1964.
When Dr. William Schwerin, Jr., president of Wexford Real Estate Inc., purchased the General Store in 1964, he did so with the intention of developing it into a medical center. But this plan didn’t work out, and in 1966, the contents of the old general store were auctioned off and Schwerin sold the property to the current owners, Jim and Marianne Marino, who lived on the premises with their son Matthew until 1973.
The Marinos went in an entirely different direction with the business of the building. They established one of the first antique collectives in PA in this facility, while endeavoring to preserve the original integrity of the history of the place. They made a point to save not only the interior and exterior appearance of the old general store, but also the name. And so The Wexford General Store Antique Center came to be.
