The Oldest General Store In North Dakota Has A Fascinating History

At one point, general stores were in almost every town. You could find a little bit of everything there and in many small towns they usually doubled as a post office or other business. North Dakota had its fair share of them back in the day, but now most of them are only preserved in memories.

There is, however, a general store still standing that you can visit yourself. It is one of the oldest commercial buildings in the entire state, and it sits in the quaint little town of Hope, North Dakota. But it hasn’t always been a general store; in fact, it has been more things than you can imagine. Here is a bit of history:

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The general store shown above was once in Grand Forks. The photograph was taken in 1880. Today, that store is long gone, as are most of North Dakota's original general stores. They popped up as the towns did when the railroads went through and then disappeared as they became more obsolete over the years. It is rare to see any still standing today.

Andrew Filer/Flickr

Hope only has a population just shy of 260 residents, but in the early 1900s and 1910s, this town was booming. There were almost 1,000 residents at that time, and places like this store and the town's "Grand Central Hotel" - now gone - were always busy. There is a historical house built in the same year as the store known as The Mitchell House still standing on the east side of town. This, too, has been well preserved and offers tours.

Andrew Filer/Flickr

It was named after Dustin P. Baldwin, who built it in the town and originally called it The Grand Arcade. He later moved on to start a different town, but that didn't mean the general store faded away. It lived on as many things.

From a general store to a hardware store, then later housing furniture dealers, undertakers, and then later to a simple grocery store and lodgings, it has been a little bit of everything in its time!

Today, it houses the Steele County Historical Society and acts as a museum showcasing both the building's history and that of the surrounding area. It was listed as a National Historic Place in 1975.

For more information on the location, tour hours, and history of the Baldwin’s Arcade and more, visit the Steele County Historical Society website.

Hearing about the history of places like this is always fascinating, but seeing photographs that show exactly what it was like can be even more so. Check out these rare, vintage photographs taken in North Dakota to see what every small town in the state had back then.