In 1977 the Berkshire Eagle did an article about the store here being sold. If you subscribe to them you can find it still in their archives, or simply check out the text for the article here:
Cummington store being sold
From The April 20, 1977 Eagle (now the Berkshire Eagle)
By Dorothy W. Chapman
CUMMINGTON – A local couple has taken over the management of the town’s only grocery store and have signed an agreement with the owner to purchase the business.
Woody’s Cummington Store, Inc., owned by Woodrow Enloe for the past 12 years, is in the process of being purchased by Mr. and Mrs. John H. Taylor.
The store has already been renamed the Cummington Family Store, Inc.. and reopened under the Talor’s management today after being closed over the weekend.
The lease arrangement is pending transfer of a package store license currently held by Enloe, according to Taylor.
The two-story building, which includes an upstairs apartment in which the couple will live, also includes a gasoline service station.
The building is a town landmark which was first used as the Cummington Cooperative Creamery Association, one of the first farmer’s co-ops, built in 1886.
According to the local history, within 120 years of its construction, 145 dairies in the several surrounding hilltowns shipped in fresh cream. In 1896 it marketed about 20,000 pounds of butter per month. By 1935 the growth of the surrounding cities created great demand for fresh whole milk. As the motor truck came into its own, farmers were able to ship milk daily to meet this demand. This brought an end to the old creamery for that purpose.
It was next used as a town garage and was later sold to Henry Snyder in 1942. It was later operated as the Old Creamery Restaurant and Package Store by Arthur Fontaine until 1954, when it was purchased by William Streeter who converted it into a general store known as Bill’s Place.
The building changed hands twice more, in 1962, when it was purchased by Gerald Rudden and again in 1965 and again in 1965 when Enloe took over.
Taylor graduated from Wahconah Regional High School in 1968 and was formerly employed as a foeman for the J.H. Maximillian Construction, Inc., of Lanesboro. Mrs. Taylor, the former Jeanne Rustemeyer, graduated from Williamsburg High School. The couple have two daughters.
This Story in History is selected from the archives by Jeannie Maschino, The Berkshire Eagle.
Recently we found this old sign hanging around in the attic, you can now find it proudly mounted in the store once more.
Mirroring it’s historic position, this time on the inside where it will cherished as a memory of where we’ve been along the way.
