Shining Examples

A glimpse back in time to the 19th century would reveal, in most of the East End’s hamlets and villages, small general stores, often containing a local post office, where people living in the neighborhood could purchase groceries and necessary supplies — and, later on, gasoline for a growing number of automobiles.

Over the years, many of those general stores disappeared, making way for larger business districts and developments, especially as the South Fork grew into a flourishing tourist destination. Big-box stores eventually arrived, challenging even those downtown shopping destinations.

But it was those general stores, mixed with a thriving agrarian economy, that defined the bucolic East End and made it an attractive destination for visitors.

In many villages and hamlets, they were lost to history. But in some areas, those slices of life from a bygone era have been preserved.

The Sagaponack General Store reopened earlier this month after a substantial renovation. Likewise, the Springs General Store is undergoing an extensive refit and should reopen sometime next year after being shut down in June 2022 to make way for the work.

While both will be working stores — perhaps focusing more on grab-and-go food and beach essentials than everyday provisions and, say, farm equipment, as they once did — they also will serve as reminders of what life used to be like in a time before frenzied development forever changes the landscape.

The East Hampton Town Board 10 years ago recognized the importance of the Springs General Store, dedicating money from the town’s CPF to purchase a facade easement, forever protecting the historic facade and ensuring it would not change over time. At the time, then-Councilman Fred Overton remarked that he had bought his first tank of gas there, for a quarter a gallon.

Earlier this month, the town’s Board of Architectural Review and Historic Preservation unanimously approved a renovation plan for the store that includes general upgrades to the building. Its owners hope for a reopening sometime next year.

The Sagaponack General Store reopened last week to general fanfare and rave reviews of the upgrades made there — which reportedly combine reverence for tradition with a modern sensibility. The store opening also marked a return of the village’s post office to the building, complete with its historic bronze postboxes. It had been operating in a temporary location while the renovations to the store were undertaken. The store was sold to new owners several years ago and temporarily shut its doors in June 2023 in order to complete the renovations.

Residents of both Springs and Sagaponack — and the entire South Fork, for that matter — should be grateful that the new owners of each store recognized the historic and cultural significance of the stores and agreed to keep as much of that history alive as possible, while at the same time breathing new life into the institutions.

And the community would do well to remember that only through consistent patronage will the stores remain open — and stay as living, breathing and shining examples of a past that helped define the area.