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Avery’s General Store on the Mohawk Trail (Route 2) in Charlemont, MA. They’ve been there quite a while. It is a very cool store, with all types of stuff. definately worth checking out. Have fun! JIM
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Avery's General Store on the Mohawk Trail (Route 2) in Charlemont, MA. They've been there quite a while. It is a very cool store, with all types of stuff. definately worth checking out. Have fun! JIM
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All the Mom and Pop hardware stores here in Dallas are gone now. there are a few left in South Dallas, but not many. There is one hold out.....Elliots Hardware on Maple Ave. They still sell horse shoe nails and just about anything you need to do anything you need. They have the look of a big chain store, but everyone who works there knows where everything is. If I retire from building, I'm gonna put my appication in at Elliots. It's the Bible of all hardware stores. When in Dallas..........I know it's not in the Northeast, but I had to sing Elliots praises.
Ed. Williams
*Try L. Sweet Lumber, 709 Harris Ave in Providence...ask to see their molding racks... and don't miss the yard..get a lot of attitude too, like if you ain't ninety years old you still don't know s**t....Harris Lumber (one of the old J.T. O'Connell yards , was two blocks up the road,... was better for hardware, but they finally closed the yard and moved the inventory to North Kingstown... a lot of stuff that hadn't seen the light of day in 50 years didn't make the trip....Then go down to Newport, to Thames Street, and go to JT's Ship Chandlery... some of their inventory is from 1899.. and a lot of it survived the move and consolidatin when JT's closed their Long Wharf store....Peppin Lumber in Woonsocket (?) has a lot of old stock in the original buildings.....
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You haven't lived "hardware" until you have visited Lehman's hardware store in Kidron, Ohio. It is in the heart of Ohio's Amish country about 25 miles west by southwest of Akron, Ohio. It is run by the mennonite Lehman family and it caters to the non-electric lifestyle so common here.
Go to http://www.lehman.com to see for your self. Don't let the internet site fool you, this place is old fashioned to the hilt! There will be literally hundreds of horses and buggys pulled up outside on a Saturday morning (right next door is the Kidron livestock auction house).
This place just doesn't have pot belly stoves, they still sell them and they carry parts! AND, if they don't have the part, they will have an Amish blacksmith make it, or a local family-owned foundry cast it! You can buy new brass sleigh bells, a brand new wash board, hog ringers, bag balm, nails, a bark spud, a windmill (yes the kind on a tower), a copper wash boiler, 40 gallon iron kettle, horseshoe nails by the case, wooden kegs (tight if you need to hold cider), maple sugar spiles, honey seperators, stainless steel milking pails and a one leg strap-on milking stool, leather belting, a Servel refrigerator (LP or natural gas), and much, much more. Prices are reasonable and you can't walk out of this place without an armful of something. They still sell the best red wagons ever - the Berlin Flyer! We have one for our 6 year old son. Wooden slat sides in old fashioned steel standard pockets.
It is a delight and an education to visit this store. Good eating nearby, too. There is a big tourist trade in the Amish and the local folk have set up some great resturants to feed the visitors.
When my wife and I lived near Akron, Ohio (13 years), we took everyone that visited us to Kidron for a day trip. We always had a blast. My dad could look at almost everything in the store and relate a story (true or not) to his use of the tool.
Gailen Lehman is the owner and he is one great fellow. About ten years ago we went to his store and I bought a few items for my shop. One of his clerks rang up a $4.00 item twice in error. About 6 month later we went back and I mentioned it to him. He apologized profusely and gave me $4.00 right out of his pocket. Couldn't ask for a more decent guy to deal with.
Order their catalog from the website and get a head start before you visit. It is worth every mile of any detour you would have to make to get there. While in that area, check out the towns of Sugar Creek, Walnut Creek and Berlin. Too good to miss. You can drive MILES without seeing an electric pole. Take a side road (its so flat out there that they all go North/South or East/West) and see the countryside. It's a treat to see all of the Amish taking in the hay or harvesting the oats with a team of horses and an old haybine. Watch out for the buggys! Some of the side roads see more horse and buggy traffic than a car or truck.
The best time to visit is in the spring or fall when there is an equipment sale at the auction house next door. All of the equipment is horse drawn. My wife and I happened into it one Saturday morning and we saw (no fooling) over 500 buggys tied end to end in the field next door, Give a call to Lehman's and ask for the sale dates.
Regards and happy hardware store hunting!
Dave Matheny
[email protected]
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There's one particularly good one in Pittsburgh, PA. Daniel's hardwaree and discount. Used to be the general store in an old coal mining patch (my family is from there.) Carries everything from coal buckets to underwear to 5HP compressors to appliances. Forpowerr tools and appliances, the prices are betterthanan ANY I have ever seen. They are at the corner oHorningng and Curry Hollow roads in the 15236 zip code (I think the town is Baldwin.) http://www.mapquest.com should be able to finthemem for you.
Peace, Mike
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If you find yourself on Interstate 84 in the Danbury, CT area, you should visit Meeker's Hardware, 90 White Street,(Exit 5, off Main St.) 140 year old historical building (Nat.Reg.Hist.Bldg.) Wood floors, old wooden nail bins and 5c Coca-Cola!
*DURFEE'S IN RHODE ISLAND!! Everyone thinks Durfee's when someone mentions the old hardware stores. The state paper has written articles about it. It's got the nooks and the wood floors. It even has a somewhat high end tool crib upstairs. I try to throw my money to them whenever I need small stuff.It's not too far off of Rte 95. Email if you want directions
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I love visiting old hardware stores - you know the kind - old wooden floors, many times running downhill from years of activity. Lots of nooks and cranny with all kinds of items from fasteners to gardening tools. One of my tests for to see if it is really an old store is if it carries straight tip wood screws in box lots in a variety of sizes. Another is stocking plain steel 6d box nails! Do you have any good "test" to see if it really is an old shop?
Does anybody have any nominations for good ole hardwaalestores?
Any with the picture perfect pot belly stove and some chairs where you can linger and shot the breeze?
I'm travelling up the east coast through PA, CT, MA with ME as my destination - any good places to visit in those states?
*Go to one of the stores you've found. Ask to see a catalogue of their supplier. Around here there was a gen. hdwr supplier called Bostwick Braun I believe. Get a hold of their sales dept. and ask for a list of distributors. All won't be old, but it's a start. Another is Worthington. Have a nice trip.