Harrisville General Store: It’s Back!

One of my favourite things to do when visiting Yankee was to eat lunch a couple of times at the Harrisville General Store. Harrisville is a small village just 5 minutes up the road from here in Dublin; it’s an old mill town, with the red-brick mill buildings forming the spine of the village along the river that drains from Harrisville Pond.

Harrisville is a strange mixture of an effete enclave and “back to the lander” service center, and at is heart has always been the general store:

Harrisville General Store Sign

The store, in recent times, was always a place to go and get an excellent sandwich and a drink and sit out front on the porch enjoying the spring sunshine. When Catherine and Oliver and I borrowed a house on Harrisville Pond several years ago the store was the place we bought all those American indulgences like Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream and exotic iced teas and micro-brews.

A few years back, however, the longtime operator of the store moved away, and the new operators, veterans of a Dunkin Donuts it was rumoured, took over and, well, ruined the place. They turned it into something worse than a Kwiki Mart. And all Harrisville was sad. After a while I couldn’t even talk about the store to my Harrisville friend because it was like talking about a child that had wandered away.

I’m happy to report, however, that it looks like the Harrisville General Store is back: I took a leap of faith and drove up for dinner tonight and, to my surprise, some of the old spark was back. There was veggie chili in the crock pot, artisanal iced tea in the cooler, and excellent chocolate chip cookies in the cookie jar. Dinner cost me $6. It was excellent. The spring sun on the porch was warm. Harrisville gleaned.

Harrisville General Store

Comments

Gary's picture
Gary on May 25, 2007 - 04:48 Permalink

Ah, yuppy New England… But is it the true Yankee experience? My wife from northern Maine doesn’t seem to think so. Try Aroostook County instead of hanging out sipping lattes and espressos in Live Free or Die territory!

Peter Rukavina's picture
Peter Rukavina on May 25, 2007 - 10:27 Permalink

Believe me, the espressos and lattes in New Hampshire are nothing to write home about.

Nate's picture
Nate on June 14, 2007 - 18:05 Permalink

Having been a long time summer resident of Harrisville I feel obligated to say that it is the furthest thing from Yuppy New England. Winnepesaukee, yes! Harrisville and the surrounding lakes and ponds…Definitely not! (after all, I doubt that any full out yuppie would want to walk or drive to get fresh drinking water from a stream fed spring.

try grabbing a 6 pack of stovepipe or long trail. Nevermind the Latte’s! Leave those for the YUPPIES in the city!

Peter Rukavina's picture
Peter Rukavina on June 14, 2007 - 18:07 Permalink

Yes, but you can still read The New York Times on the same day it was printed ;-)