The Historic Village at Allaire - The Howell Works Company Store

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The Howell Works Bakery | The Howell Works General Store

Clerk's Desh The Howell Works Company Store, possibly the largest in the State of New Jersey, supplied both the Village workers and the surrounding community with all its needs. The store, today referred to as the General Store, housed an apothecary, a US Post Office, a Butcher Shop and a Furniture store as well as carrying a wide array of merchandise from fresh produce and dairy products to, dry goods, house hold items and tools. Managers of the Company Store boasted one could find anything on its shelves and this was tested time and again. Legend has it a patron to the store came in asking for goose yokes and, as luck would have it, a local farmer had that very morning traded in a set of goose yokes for other necessary items. The store was able to honor the request and thus retained its reputation.

The four story building, construction of which was begun in 1835 and completed in 1836, was the predecessor to the modern day mall or department store. The basement level housed the Butcher Shop where fresh meats and fish, along with dairy products, eggs, poultry and possibly even ice could be purchased. The street floor sold general merchandise, housed the Post Office and Apothecary, sold dry goods, hardware, light groceries, ironware, wines and liquors, flour, meal and coffee beans, as well as an assortment of other items. The second floor housed the furniture store where workers and their families could purchase finished furniture in a variety of price ranges, meeting the needs of all the company workers as well as the surrounding community. Unpacked merchandise, such as sets of dishes, were also available for sale on the second floor of the Company Store. The top floor held grains, feed, barrels of nails and screws and bulk items as well as being a storage area. The store also boasts what may be the oldest freight lift in the State of New Jersey and, when first completed built, was also home to a primitive soda fountain.

Shelves Today, when one goes shopping, they jump into their car and head to a mall or a grocery store, no further than about an half hour drive. At the time the Howell Works Company Store was built, shopping was a completely different experience. Company records indicate patrons of the Howell Works Company Store came from as far away as Camden, Somers Point and Plainfield. At a time when most people were farmers, shopping for supplies was a major event, equaled to a holiday. One might travel for up to a week, or even longer, to do their marketing. Marketing meant meeting friends and relatives, having a chance to discuss things like politics or the latest social events and stock up on many needed supplies while doing so.

In the present day, only the street level is open to the public and quarters the Howell Works Company Store Museum and Collection as well as the Historic Village at Allaire General Store Museum Gift Shop. Costumed historic interpreters in the museum portion of the building give visitors a flavor of what a shopping experience in an early 19th Century company store would have been like. The Museum Gift Shop offers an extensive collection of reproduction items for sale, including many which were handcrafted by the Historic Village's own Guildsmen at the Village Trade Shops. The General Store Museum Gift Shop also sells a very popular assortment of Christmas Collectible Ornaments as well as our special Annual Christmas Cache US Postal Cancellation Stamp.