December 1, 1999

General store has unique history

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
      Jim Watson has become a sleuth since purchasing the Old Mission General Store earlier this year. He is always on the lookout for a good story about the place and, from many conversations with descendants of the town's founding families, has put together a rough sketch of the store's history.
      Old Mission was the first white settlement in the Grand Traverse area, beginning its life as a mission founded by the Reverend Peter Dougherty in 1839. Soon after the community's founding, Miller Louis started the Old Mission General Store on a section of the Old Mission Beach he purchased from area Indian tribes.
      Starting out in a wigwam, Louis soon began constructing a store building by hand, creating what is reputed to be the first retail general store between Fort Wayne, Ind., and Mackinaw. By 1850, the store was also the site of the first post office in northern Michigan, which offered the only mail service available between southern Michigan and Mackinaw.
      Stories show that Louis was friends with a sea captain who would traverse the East Bay in just one day and bring his store goods from the wagon train that stopped in Elk Rapids on its way up to Mackinaw. This saved Louis the six-day walk, one way, from his store to Elk Rapids to purchase stock.
      Old Mission Peninsula and the town of Old Mission in particular were important to the region from the start. The area was noticed by some botanists and soil conservationists -who later accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition- as a perfect fruit growing climate. They called it the best location for growing cherries they had ever seen.
      The Old Mission General Store served as the retail hub of the growing community, as the region's first cherry farms were planted in Old Mission. Potatoes and apples were planted first, as dried apples were highly in demand in Chicago by settlers on wagon trains to the West. The long pier on Old Mission Beach stretched out to the drop off so large sailing ships could be loaded with the produce grown here and sent to Chicago.
      By the Civil War, the store building was moved from the beach to its current location at the top of a hill. The center portion of the building today is the original store built by founder Louis. The proprietors usually lived in an apartment above the store, although today the Richards live on his family farm nearby.
      At some point, Louis sold the Old Mission General Store to a man named Stone, thought to be his sea captain friend. Stone sold to Henry Lardie, whose descendants owned and ran the store for more than 100 years. Henry sold it to George, who sold it to Bob Duvall, a relative of the family. Two more owners came along in the modern era, Don Smith, a retired Air Force officer, and Dave and Joan Kroupa, who sold the property to the Richards.
      Richards continues to search out names, dates and anecdotes about this historic building, fascinated by the ambience in the old boards. He feels a respect for and responsibility to the history of the store and its previous owners, even choosing to stock pickled bologna in honor of George Lardie and Pinconning cheeses in honor of Henry Lardie.
      "I think some of the first owners walk across the floor at night, turning lights on and off, banging doors and turning off water when I leave it on," Richards said. "I'm sure they can work the original cash register, which I can't get to work."