St. James General Store and Stony Brook Grist Mill

Saint James

Stony Brook

Long Island

Let’s kill two mediocre birds with one post. You know how sometimes you get really excited for something that when it actually happens it’s a bit of a letdown? I think that’s what happened for me with the St. James General Store and Stony Brook Grist Mill. It probably didn’t help that I visited them at the end of a subway ride, train ride with a nearly-impossible-to-make transfer, walk to a car rental place that was sold out of GPS units even though we had reserved one, and hour-long car ride in terrible traffic. Plus I was hungry.

That said, even if I had been in the best of possible physical states, I think I still would have been disappointed by the St. James General Store. My Off the Beaten Path: Metro New York guide really hyped it up: “Be sure to stop by National Landmark St. James General Store…it’s the oldest continuously operating general store in the country and looks just as it did in 1890.” Wow! I thought, that sounds amazing! I, unfortunately, have learned the hard way that my Off the Beaten Path guidebook often unnecessarily hypes things up. Of course the store doesn’t look just like it did in 1890. That would be impossible—it wouldn’t have been able to compete with modern stores.

“The shelves are stocked with more than 4,000 items, many of which are nineteenth-century reproductions,” my book continued. Yes, the shelves are stocked. And some of the items are nineteenth-century reproductions, but mostly it’s just a bunch of useless stuff that barely manages to hold ones attention. The exterior is pretty—painted in bright colors like a Victorian home in San Francisco, but I doubt that’s what it looked like when it opened in 1857. Now it’s more the sort of place that caters to people’s ideas of what a 19^th-century general store might have been like.

The most interesting thing in the store was a green flyer with the history of the place. It spoke of how the town had been established by an agreement between Robert Smith and the Nesaquake Indians—they agreed to let him own as much land as he could cover in a day on his pet bull. The general store (which also served as the local post office) was started up by one of his descendants, Ebenezer Smith. It remained in family hands until the 1950s, when it was going to be converted into a home but was purchased by a local couple who wanted to preserve it as the general store. Finally, in 1990, the Suffolk County Parks Department purchased it and dedicated it to the Suffolk County Historic Trust.

The green flyer claimed that “[s]ales women dressed in Gibson Girl outfits are eager to answer questions about the store’s history, or to point out the many museum pieces that line the shelves, mingled with a large assortment of merchandise for sale.” The one woman who was working there when we visited seemed to have little interest in us even though we were the only ones in the store at the time, and she certainly was not dressed as a Gibson Girl. She’s probably used to people walking in and then walking right back out. Perhaps there were museum pieces lining the shelves, but it was too hard to find them amongst the large assortment of merchandise for sale.

Had our timing been better, we probably would have enjoyed the Stony Brook Grist Mill. The problem is, it’s only open Saturdays and Sundays in May, June, and September through December, and only from noon to 4:30pm. In July and August it’s also open on Fridays during the same hours. Since we arrived on a Friday in June, we could admire only the exterior, which was mildly picturesque. The windows were all tightly shuttered, so there was no peering at the machinery inside.

It had been opened in 1751 and is still a functioning mill, albeit for show and educational purposes. It was bought in 1947 by local philanthropist Ward Melville whose heritage association also offers wetland tours. If you’re going to be in the area, it can’t hurt to stop by, especially since admission is only $2 for adults and $1 for children. Maybe the interior is super exciting; maybe it’s just dusty. Hard to tell.

Within walking distance from the Gristmill is the Stony Brook shopping center. Mr. Melville also struck upon a solution to allow businesses to grow in the village while maintaining its historic feel—move all the businesses to one area away from the harbor. Now the majority of town’s businesses and restaurants located in what is known as the Village Center. It’s a good place to find something to eat after several hours of traveling via various means.

Also within walking distance from the Gristmill is the Long Island Museum of American Art, History and Carriages. We did not visit this museum, even though I had been excited by the idea of a museum of carriages. We were feeling overwhelmed and crunched for time—we still had to get to the Walt Whitman Birthplace (post to follow) and the Long Island Museum is a large, 9-acre complex that actually houses three separate museums: The Margaret Melville Blackwell History Museum which features miniature period rooms and a collection of antique decoys, the Dorothy and Ward Melville Carriage House with over ninety horse-drawn carriages, and the Art Museum which shows American art from the 18^th century to the present. Also on the grounds are several 18^th and 19^th century buildings, including a blacksmith shop, one-room schoolhouse, barn, carriage shed, and colonial burial grounds.

It was just more than we felt we could handle at the time. Although, it sounds pretty awesome. One day I’ll have to return to Stony Brook to find out if it is. Probably on a Saturday or a Sunday when that damn gristmill is open.

http://www.stonybrookvillage.com/stony-brook-grist-mill-c-1751
http://www.longislandmuseum.org/default.asp