Like all general stores, Bickford’s in South Windham offered anything anyone would want – signs promote health products for the kidneys, bowels and a bad cough. Hanging nearby is an assortment of garden tools and shovels. Boxes of shoes fill the shelves, alongside groceries. Henry Bickford surveys his store from the center of the big room. He came to South Windham in 1869. His father had just bought an old store from a Mr. Bacon. The building was torn down and this new store (above) built in its place. When his father died, Henry inherited the property and continued to run the store for many years. The basic structure still exists today, not too far from where Avesta will build Little Falls Landing, an elderly housing facility. (From Windham Historical Society archives)
Send questions/comments to the editors.