“As my grandfather used to say, this is God’s country—right here.”
Bill Strain
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| Welcome to America's oldest existing and continuously operated general store -open since 1801. Yes, that is before my time. ;) |
My late-father and Bill Strain were good friends and members of the Round Hill Volunteer Fire Department as far back as I recall. On Sundays Dad would be on duty at the firehouse, and I often went with him to wash the fire trucks, munch on TV dinners while watching ABC's Wide World of Sports or Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, being stationed at the Round Hill Country Club for the July 4 Independence Day fireworks, and go on occasional fire calls
Oh, yes, there were the intermittent cat-stuck-in-a-tree rescues, too. The firehouse were the only ones with ladders tall enough to reunite stuck feline family members with their more earthbound human members.
Just a stone's throw away from the firehouse is one of backcountry Greenwich's quintessential small town America landmarks -the Round Hill Store. This past August I journeyed back to this special place for the first time in over fifteen years.
Earlier that day I was with local photographer Christopher Semmes. He asked me to come along on a photo-shoot that morning at one of the Greenwich's prominent law firms. After business was completed Christopher looked at me and asked if there was any place I'd like to visit -he was more than happy to drive.
And the first place that came to mind was -you guessed right- the Round Hill Store.
There is something mythic about the Round Hill Store. There's no denying it. Located in the heart of the Round Hill section of my ancestral home town, Greenwich, Connecticut, this special spot has been a witness to history, and to almost every form of inclement weather known to humanity in this corner of America. Through good times and bad the Round Hill Store has seen it all. It tugs at our heartstrings and ever shall.
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| This was the first sight I beheld when we walked in the door. It hasn't change in decades. Literally. You can still buy deli sandwiches, groceries -and yes, even electric model trains! |
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| Breakfast cereal, cake mix, tissues, ice cream bars, maple syrup, Oreo cookies, sandwiches, you name it! You can find it here at the Round Hill Store. |
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| No holds barred here. Yes, pay for the news before you read it. |
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| This cupboard functions almost like a museum. Bill Strain said it contains a sampling of products the Round Hill Store has sold over the generations. |
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| A very, very old cash register is on display. |
Note the sign with the store's "official" no smoking policy: Smokers all be pummeled with punishing blows all over their bodies. They are serious -well, to a point, I'm sure!
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| A boyhood's best car dealership with the latest models has been at the store for years. :) |
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| When I ask many friends, Round Hill natives and expats alike what they remember most about their visits to the Round Hill Store hands-down it's the penny candies. |
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| Tootsie rolls and fireballs, anyone? :) |
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| All aboard! Lionel trains have been produced since 1900. I grew up with Lionel trains, often finding them under the Christmas tree and on my birthday. |
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| This is an antique Lionel electric toy train that sits on the display shelf. |
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| Do you know any retailer who sells Lionel trains over-the-counter? |
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| Some of the items on display include a radio, washboard and a pinball machine. |
The Round Hill Store also features an automobile service station. In such a rural part of Greenwich a place like this was necessary. The nearest service station was about three miles away -and grocery store about five miles. The area is still dominated by small farms, horse stables, and estates. Especially in the winter places like the Round Hill Store and its service station are indispensable.
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| The repair shop was abuzz with activity when Bill Strain brought Christopher Semmes and I through it. |
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| No car or truck is too new or too classic -like this one- for tender loving care and trustworthy repairs than that found at the service station. They also service and repair farm equipment and lawn mowers. |
I do not have adequate words to describe the smiles this antique marvel brought to my heart. They would not let me have the keys, but I did try! Truth be told, I have a very special-someone in Singapore who I would have loved to take on a summer or autumn Sunday drive around my old Round Hill neighborhood in this classic beauty. Sorry, everyone, this baby just fits two -and that seat will be taken. :)
These two houses next door come with an interesting story courtesy of Bill Strain. He said that a man who also shared the same first and surname as my father lived in one house with his wife. Things did not work out between the two, so they divorced. It did to take long for that Mrs. Mead to move herself and her things to the house next door and the man who married her rather quickly. All continued to live next door to each other for many years. How awkward indeed!
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| This way to the firehouse located near the Round Hill Store on Old Mill Road. |
Bill Strain told me a heretofore unknown story about my Dad. Years ago Dad was on duty during a raging winter snowstorm. Apparently he was bored. Dad decided to hike home -and like the former U.S. Marine that he was, Dad thought the nearly three miles it would take to walk from the firehouse to our home would be quite manageable. He promised to call when he arrived at our house. When the other firefighters had not heard anything they sent out a search party, discovering his whereabouts on Burying Hill Road. Yes, they brought him home.
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| This Queen Anne-styled home is nestled between the Round Hill Store and the Round Hill Firehouse. It is undergoing extensive renovation and restoration. Soon, it will be reborn as the offices of the Greenwich Land Trust, a local conservation nonprofit that safeguards the open, undeveloped lands under its care. |
For over two centuries the Round Hill Store has endured. General stores in the New England states like this one have endured by changing with the times and yet have stayed true to their histories and their traditions. I pray that it shall endure for generations to come. In a time when mom-and-pop stores across America have sailed off into the sunset this special place to our hearts has stayed true to its historical foundations.
The Round Hill Store is independent and practical -just like the people who call this place home.
Why does this place and others like it tug at our heartstrings? This was more than just a place to buy penny candies, sandwiches, breakfast cereal, laundry detergent and all the other necessities of life. The store was for us fortunate to grow up here and still serves as a gathering place. For generations news was shared, people scattered across the landscape could share and nurture friendships, a place to call home-away-from-home. It was the place where you could visit the store's bulletin board, scan its notices for ads for math tutoring, a lawn mower for sale, perhaps a dog or a cat gone missing.
We remember with fondness Mrs. Strain, those 1950s eyeglasses she wore and how she would count the penny candies you purchased one-by-one, putting them in a bag and sending you on your way.
As many who called Round Hill home and gone off to parts all over the world, I'd like to think that those penny candies mean something else today to expats everywhere.
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| One last look, until we meet again -and we shall. |
I've heard it said that your true friends are the ones who you can go for months without talking to and when you reconnect nothing has changed. You mention this place to people of all walks of life from Greenwich and the nostalgia the store evokes pours out from the heart like no other place does.
If you are feeling a bit teary-eyed I have some news. You are not alone, I assure you.
As I close I draw to your attention a superb article authored by Timothy Dumas in Greenwich Magazine. Click here for the link. It will make you smile.
In a time of whirlwind change, globalization and uncertainties in life one could always find the doors open to a place perpetually consistent and calm like the eye of a storm.
As we thanked our hosts for such a precious trip down "Memory Lane," I felt reconnected. I could not say good-bye, because I knew as we drove off to our next destination that I would return. I wanted so much to bring my old friends and neighbors back to the Round Hill Store. But I also have those friends and former students in Hawaii, in Asia -and a special-someone- who I wanted to share this place with. I pray that day comes.
The Round Hill Store is like that for us -a true friend that is always there waiting and welcoming.
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