The general store in late-nineteenth-century America was often the economic heart of a small town. Merchants sold goods necessary for residents daily survival and extended credit to many of their customers; cash-poor farmers relied on merchants for their economic well-being just as the retailers needed customers to purchase their wares. But there was more to this mutual dependence than economics. Store owners often helped found churches and other institutions, and they and their customers worshiped together, sent their children to the same schools, and in times of crisis, came to one...
The general store in late-nineteenth-century America was often the economic heart of a small town. Merchants sold goods necessary for residents dai...
