By PATRICIA JONES
In the early 1900’s most American communities were served by a general store, filled with all kinds of merchandise. Dobby’s Frontier Town used an old schoolhouse to create a replica of what a general store may have looked like.
Any time farmers or ranchers came to town, they would have needed supplies for the home. Visitors can look around at the variety of products that would have been for sale: fabric, pots and pans, seeds, shoes, hardware, nails, or food. What was not in stock at the General Store could be ordered and shipped in. Visitors to Dobby’s Frontier Town spend a lot of time looking at the antiques and guessing what they were used for!
Ladies especially spent a lot of time in general stores, trading news and gossip, finding out who was sick, and where there were jobs. (Men were sharing news in the saloon, where women weren’t welcome.) Women often traded eggs, butter, milk, and things they had made at home for merchandise in the General Store.
Commodities often came in crates or kegs. Things like nails, crackers, molasses, or pickles could be found in open barrels sitting on the floor of the store. The General Store proprietor would have waited on each customer, measuring and wrapping their purchases. Many of the things you see here, like the crocks on the top shelf, are modeled after Dobby’s father’s store in downtown Alliance. Marvin Lee ran the IGA Palace Meat Market until 1954.
The General Store is located behind the main house in the central part of Dobby’s Frontier Town. On the counter is one of Dobby’s two guest books, signed by visitors from all fifty states and several foreign countries, and a barrel for cash donations sits by the door.
Dobby’s Frontier Town is located at 320 East 25th Street/ Nance Road, Alliance. The town is open 10-6 daily for self-guided tours, and donations are appreciated.