Evansville Trading Post

Evansville Trading Post (ETP) is an old-fashioned general store in Brownington, Vermont. In the heart of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, it is fifteen miles south of Newport and five and a half miles west/northwest of the town of Westmore and the famous Lake Willoughby. It is on Route 58, three miles east of VT I-91. As part of Vermont's 'local color' it is a member of the Vermont Alliance of Country Stores. [Vermont Alliance of Country Stores is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote and enhance country stores http://vaics.org/vaics-evansville.html]

History

In 1974 Ralph Swett, a local farmer, was chairman of Brownington’s [Read more about the history of this, one of Vermont's oldest towns: [http://www.vtarchaeologymonth.com/cms/stoneMuseum] ] 175th anniversary celebration committee. He took pictures of every old building in town and self-published the little local history booklet, "History of Brownington 1799-1974".

When Swett came to the community of Evansville he saw an abandoned Methodist Episcopal Church [See an original 1899 welcoming pamphlet from this church, complete with Pastors, Officers and Committee Members [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~nekg3/church/church_methodist-episcopal-brownington-1899.htm] ] with a bunch of hippies living in it. The place was a mess. He spent some time talking to the neighbors about who owned the property. When he found the information he needed, he called the Methodist Bishop in Albany, NY and asked what he would want for the building and the property. The Bishop told him, “Make me an offer.” Not expecting the answer he got, Swett offered the bishop two thousand dollars for the place. The Bishop said, “Send me a check.” He did and the rest is the story of the Evansville Trading Post.

Less than a year later, when the property next door to the church came up for sale he purchased that too, and moved over to Evansville. He started by selling junk furniture and antiques out of the building. It was going so well that he built a two-car garage in back and made a small sales room out of it so he could have heat in the winter. The business became year-round.

The neighbors kept after Swett and his sons, Francis and Andrew to put in a small general store. Eventually they did, adding basic groceries, some gift items and then some hardware supplies. They added hunting and fishing supplies.

The fertile soil of the area is good for crops, and the farmers brought fresh produce to the store for sale. Other locals wanted animal feed. Tourists asked for postal supplies, souvenirs and travel needs. The store and the family were well received and people appreciated having the convenience of a true General Store nearby.

The windows and glass doors are always full of posters of local events, fundraisers, church and school activities. Several times, the ample parking area of the store was advertised as the initial gathering spot for a family reunion.

A local Native American group, the Abenaki Clan of the Hawk [The Clan of the Hawk is a nonprofit Abenaki Clan dedicated to improving cultural awareness of the local indigenous people through free school programs, museum, genealogy library and more. http://www.clanofthehawkinc.org] had an office in the back of the store for many years. It moved the office a half mile down the road to the Clan Grounds, but the store still helps advertise its annual Craft Show and Pow Wow. The Clan holds its summertime bake sales and tag sales in the Trading Post parking lot. They are listed as one of the forty places to visit in the Northeast Kingdom in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom Geotourism MapGuide. [Vermont's Northeast Kingdom Geotourism MapGuide was developed by the Northeast Kingdom Geotourism Alliance Workgroup and the Center for Sustainable Destinations at National Geographic.http://www.travelthekingdom.com/geotourism/geotourismmap.htm ]

About 1990 Swett came up with the idea to move the church building back in line with the store and solve the problem of the crumbling foundation. It was quite a project, but it worked out well, because the whole Trading Post is in one long line now, easier for people to drive through. The town news photographer took pictures and Swett himself made a video of the project.

This ‘rearrangement’ made way for one of the last big changes – the addition of a gas station. As it was pretty far to other stations at the time, it became a popular hangout for locals and tourists alike. A coffee station was added. Newspaper stands popped up. An ATM machine sprouted.

Today

For 32 years it has been a family-owned and family-run store. Nowadays a shopper can fill up their tank with gas, their grocery basket with a week's groceries, the bed of their pickup with lumber and nails, their kids with snacks and their suitcases with gifts to take home, all in one stop at the Trading Post! They can buy a lottery ticket, local paper, fishing license, or new mattress. They can send a fax, use the public phone, wander through the Native American Craft section, turn in pop bottles, register the deer they shot, or get cash from the ATM. It is one of the true General Stores of the area, and one not to be missed.

Other Local Attractions

*Barton, Vermont, Barton Golf Club LLC, and Crystal Lake; 7 miles south of the Trading Post.
*Brownington, Vermont, [http://www.clanofthehawkinc.org Abenaki Clan of the Hawk] ; One half mile west of ETP
*Jay Peak and the Jay Peak Resort; 27 miles northwest of ETP
*Lake Memphremagog, a fresh water glacial lake between Newport, VT, US and Magog, Quebec, Canada; 20 miles north of the Evansville Trading Post
*Lake Willoughby, a glacial lake over 300' deep; 5 and ½ miles south east of ETP

References