Edinburg General Store & Post Office
Edinburg General Store/Post Office, December 2018. Note the gas pumps!
Historical Overview
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Standing at 1720-22 Village Road West, at the intersection of Old Trenton and Edinburg Roads, is a large, 2.5-story building with two mid-20th century gas pumps out front. This structure, functioning in 2023 as both the "Village Pantry" deli and "Greenhouse Graphics" graphic arts company, is a member of West Windsor's "100 club." It is a key landmark of the historic settlement of Edinburg and has, for over 200 years, functioned as a store of some sort.
This building dates to around 1816 - see adjacent advertisement. This same article also shows that the building was smaller at first and expanded over time. James Hutchinson had purchased this property - part of a 1.5-acre tract that also included the property of 1726 Old Trenton Road (the Rachel Conover house) next door - from William Tindall, Esquire, in 1814. This may have been the same William Tindall who served as West Windsor's very first Tax Assessor and Justice of the Peace starting in 1797, and was also a Township Committeeman, Commissioner of (Taxation) Appeal, Overseer of the Highways, and Moderator/Judger of Elections from the 1790s-1810s. |
Advertisement from the February 12, 1816 "Trenton Federalist."
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Township tax records from 1819 show James operating a "merchant shop" - presumably this same building. Like William, he was also a veteran of the American Revolution. What, exactly, he sold is unclear, but dry goods and produce may be good bets. He, and his successors, very likely catered to both locals and travelers looking for provisions.
While the lineage of ownership for the next two decades is unclear, what is certain is that in 1837, John Hutchinson, Esq. and Elizabeth Hutchinson sold the 1.5-acre tract to David and Susan Silver. A "David Silver" is also listed as a West Windsor Overseer of the Highways and Judge of Elections in the 1840s. Following David in ownership was James Cubberly from 1845-47), and then Richard Rogers, from 1847-53). A post office was established in this building in 1851 with Richard Rogers as the first recorded postmaster. Most storekeepers after him presumably operated as Edinburg's postmaster as well. At first, Mail arrived and departed daily by stage from and to Trenton. |
Edinburg in 1875. Note the store!
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Following Richard Rogers in ownership were a long line of (comparatively) short-term owners. Not all were necessarily storekeepers themselves, for other names that appear in the 1883 publication History of Burlington and Mercer Counties as storekeepers (but not owners) include Marco Krakakie, Job Silvers, Lucient Britton, Richard Waddy, Israel Baldwin. However, the lineage of storeowners is as follows:
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Duke's General Store, probably 1940s. Courtesy of Wayne Tindall.
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In 1898, the properties of 1720-22 and 1726 Old Trenton Road were finally split from each other, resulting in the current (2023) property demarcations, and the store was sold to Levi Updike. The next year, the property again passed to Joseph Watson and his wife, Kate, who owned it until 1916.
Harry Hohenstein and his wife, Mary, purchased the store in 1929. Harry delivered groceries to customers three times a week via horse and wagon. The Hohensteins also sold penny candy, bread, cupcakes, and more treats for kids. In 1936, Viola and Douglas "Duke" Stults acquired the general store. Duke, blind from birth, nevertheless knew where everything was. He could slice luncheon meats on the machine and count coins, but relied on the honesty of customers when handling paper money. Both he and Viola managed "Duke's General Store and Chair Caning Shop." In the rear 1-story extension (next to parking lot) was a game room with a pool table that was a popular hangout location. In 2023, this is a kitchen. During their ownership (if not previous ownership as well) the store also operated as an Esso gas station. |
Tantum's store, 1962. Photo from Howard E. Schrader.
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Myron and Bernice Tantum bought the store in 1960 and replaced the older gas pumps with the current relics (which themselves stopped operating in the 1980s or 1990s). After the Tantums, starting in 1972, were Ronald and Dorothy Maze, who ran "Maze's Village Pantry," and sold deli meats and groceries. By this point, a lean-to addition on the east side of the building had been raised to two floors.
Finally, in 1991, Larris "Lucky" Lee and his wife, Patricia, purchased the property. The Village Pantry still operates out of this building, alongside a graphics arts company called Greenhouse Graphics on the east end and in a 1-story gable-roof addition. There, they continue operation in this centuries-old building that is part of the lifeblood of historic Edinburg. |
 Maze's Village Pantry, probably 1980s.
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Bibliography
- "West Windsor Tax Assessor Address List, 2019.” West Windsor, 2019. List of all residences in West Windsor with dates of construction, according to tax assessor. Sent to the Historical Society by Lorraine Jones and Dawn Moretti.
- Slayback, Abel, Bergen, John G. Ms. Deed. New Jersey State Archives, 1811. Found in New Jersey State Archives Manuscript Room - Middlesex County Deeds - Middlesex County Deed Book 9 Page 211.
- Hill, Joseph, Updike, William. Ms. Deed. New Jersey State Archives, 1843. Found in the Mercer County Clerk's Office - Mercer County Deeds - Mercer County Deed Book G Page 17.
- Conover, Rose R., Conover, Walter F. Mount, John S., Mount, Walter S. “Indenture” West Windsor, 1924. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 530 Page 375.
- “West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
- Ibid.
- Conover, Rose R., Conover, Walter F. Mount, John S., Mount, Walter S. “Indenture” West Windsor, 1924. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 530 Page 375.
- Conover, Rose R., Conover, Walter F Sr., Heidrick, Dorothy B., Heidrick, Gardner W. “Deed.” West Windsor, 1965. Deed from Lyorah Vannest to Lydia C. Wyckoff for 136 South Mill Road. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 1732 Page 854. Mentions the 1963 Robins-Conover transfer.
- Ibid.
- Conover, Rose R., Conover, Walter F Sr., Mather, Dorothy C. “Deed.” West Windsor, 1942. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 844 Page 535.
- "Obituaries: Dorothy C. Mather.” Town Topics, July 3, 2002.
- “Light Plane Crashes, Walton, Mather Killed.” Princeton Herald, August 6, 1952.
- Greenwich Investors XI, LLC., Vogel, Sarah. "Deed.” West Windsor, 2003. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 4451 Page 277.