Roy B. Gilbert General Store, New Lisbon

Found these photos on eBay. Scroll down below the photos to read a history of the store narrated by Carleton Deming and compiled by Jane and Warren Ryther.

A history of the store narrated by Carleton Deming and compiled by Jane and Warren Ryther.

The New Lisbon general store and post office (and beekeeper supplies):

● Built in 1901, the building was owned by William I. Smith. [Directly adjacent was a house built in the 1880’s owned and occupied by Mr. David Hard and family.]

● In June of 1903, Mr. Smith deeded the building over to The New Lisbon Public Hall Association. The upstairs of the building was used as a Grange Hall and public meeting house. (At this time the post office and general store of the village [owned and run by “Hard and Peck”] had been housed in the small building just above the store on the four corners.)In the early 1920, Hard moved his store and the post office business down from the corner into the first-floor “store” portion of the building.

● In August of 1936, The New Lisbon Public Hall Association sold the building to J. Ernest and Lavinia Thurston. The Thurstons began renting the store/post office portion of the building to Roy Gilbert (pictured on the steps of the building).

● In 1949, J. Ernest and Lavinia sold the building to Bertha and Adin Deming (mother and son) The Deming’s continued to rent the store/post office space to Mr. Gilbert who ran the store until his demise from a brain tumor in 1958. (Coincidentally, a nearby neighbor, George Sneethan also died of a brain tumor that same year.)

● Around 1950-51 the upstairs of the building was converted to a two-bedroom apartment. The apartment was rented by the Ralph Davis family for several years.

● After Mr. Gilbert’s death the store/post office was rented from Mr. Deming by Myron George. Mr. and Mrs. George rented the space for about 2 years. At that time, around 1960, the George’s gave up the lease and moved the store/post office to the old New Lisbon school house down in the center of the village (currently owned by Stacia and Gary Norman). The village church had been directly across from the school house. (That church, owned by Les Stroh, burned to the ground in 2007?)

See this link for images and history of the church;
http://ourtownnews.info/morris-ny/1906-postcard-New-Lisbon-Church

School House
http://ourtownnews.info/morris-ny/New-Lisbon-School-District-No-1

● From about 1960 to 1970 the apartment and store remained empty. In 1970 the upstairs apartment was returned to life for the only child of Adin and Hollis Deming, Carleton Deming’s use as a weekend get-away. The apartment continued in this role for Carleton (and wife, Patricia, son Jack, and daughter Dorothy) until 2020 when Carleton sold the property to its current owner, Margaret Cigno.

(The underground tanks that held the gas for the pumps in the photograph were dug up and disposed of in 2008. The question remains…why were there 3 tanks to dig up when there were only 2 gas pumps?)