Windham Historical Society member, Nancy Shaw Larrivee, is a lifetime resident of Windham. She was born in the beautiful old white farmhouse that sits behind Binga’s on the corner of River Road and Route 202, which was then called Grant’s Corner, named for Nancy’s grandfather William Grant and his brother J.J.
Nancy has many fond memories of living in South Windham during the 1940s. She has put together a detailed history of the area that she shared with me. This article will take you on a trip through South Windham as seen through a young girl’s eyes.
Our trip starts at Grant’s Corner and makes its way down Main Street to the rotary. Nancy recalls that the first brick house on the right was home to the Zinchuck family. During World War II, they had a banner with a red, white and blue star hanging in their window to signify that they had sons serving in the military. Across the street, Ernest “Brick” Moore ran his bulldozing business.
The Bodge House once sat where the South Windham Post Office is these days. Photo by Haley Pal
On the left, where the post office sits today, you would have passed by the classic old cape known as the Bodge House. The house was moved to Chute Road in 1968. Across the street, Kanrick’s Albert Auto Service took care of the automotive needs of the community.
The railroad tracks served the Portland and Ogdensburgh Railroad. Nancy remembered hearing the lonely train whistle from her house.
“I always wondered, did we live on the right side or the wrong side of the tracks?” Nancy pondered.
Where Blue Seal is these days, stood the Paris Flouring Company. The South Windham Community Church was a Universalist parish at that time. Right beside it was Young’s Blacksmith Shop and across the street, Woodlawn Cleaners would have been found. Also on the right side of the street, John C. Nichols was director of the town’s only funeral home. In addition to funeral services, Mr. Nichols sold home furnishings, stoves, carpets and coffins.
This building was known as Oriental Hall in the 1940s. It houses apartments now. Photo by Haley Pal
Farther down the road on the left is a large gray building that was called Oriental Hall in the 1940s. This was where townspeople would go for a night of fun and dancing. One of Nancy’s favorite memories is of the family who lived in the house next door to the hall, the Pecoranos.
Mrs. Pecorano would often be found sitting on the cement wall in front of her house where she could keep an eye on her children, Julia, Minola, Johnny and Gussie, who played on Depot Street near Patsy’s South Windham Grocery that sat on the opposite corner. Patsy’s was famous for the delicious Italian sandwiches made by the store’s owner, Pasquale Miele, she said.
The brick building on the opposite corner housed two popular businesses, Victoria’s Beauty Shop and Angie’s Barber Shop. Across the street, their competitor, Main Street Barber Shop was in operation.
Technically, when you cross the bridge over the Presumpscot River, you are in Gorham, but that part of town was still referred to as South Windham by locals. A place that just about everyone frequented was Sawyer’s Store. Nancy remembers one of their employees, Rachel Duchaineau, who worked for the Sawyers for 60 years.
The little South Windham Library was the first thing you’d see on the Gorham side of South Windham Village in the mid-twentieth century. Photo by Haley Pal
“She had a sharp tongue,” Nancy recalled. “You had better behave yourself or she would set you straight.”
The Portland Bus Company was right next to Sawyer’s and buses left from the store six times a day to take people to Westbrook and Portland.
“I rode the bus a lot,” Nancy said. “I liked to go to the Brook’s Movie Theatre in Westbrook. The theatre owners would drop off movie posters to my mother and she would display them in our store. They would give her two free tickets in appreciation and my best friend, Tricia, and I would take the bus to the movie shows.”
There were even more businesses down the road. There was Sawyer’s Oil Company, Thomas Hawkes Fuel and Oil and the Windham Shoe Hospital, as well as the South Windham Pharmacy and the South Windham Grocery, one of the first self-serve grocers in the state.
It was a simpler time back then, a quieter time, but in the little village of South Windham, life was bustling with thriving downtown businesses. The streets were filled with many proud residents who enjoyed being part of this wonderful community. One 10-year-old was among them and she still cherishes those happy times today.
Haley Pal is a Windham resident and an active member of the Windham Historical Society. She can be contacted at haleypal@aol.com.
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