If you ever get tired of or just need a break from shopping the "big box" stores in our region, take a break at a general store in Treadwell. Barlow’s General Store is a survivor from the early 1820s and to this day remains a community hub of activity.

Location, location, location. That’s a key to success for a business to survive. Back in the 1820s, Barlow’s was found along the Catskill/Susquehanna Turnpike, a very busy route between Catskill and Unadilla.

It wasn’t called Barlow’s at that time. In front of today’s store, a sign shows the owners over the years. T.J. Rich is credited with building the store. The sign says Rich ran it from 1841-53, but historians in the town of Franklin have found a daybook that dates back to 1819. The Barlow’s name began in 1930 and has remained the same, despite ownership changes. Helen Mitchell is the present owner.

Treadwell wasn’t going by that name when Rich started his store. The early Rich ledger shows the town as East Franklin. Before that, it was called Jug City, perhaps because there was a distillery nearby. Later the name was changed to Croton, and eventually Treadwell.

Treadwell is a quiet community today, and Barlow’s is the only store remaining. According to an edition of The Delaware Express from November 1901, Treadwell once had two meat markets, two barber shops, two wagon repair shops, four telephone lines, a first-class hotel, one bakery, three general stores, one hardware store, one harness shop, four blacksmith shops, a millinery store, eight dress makers, two cooper shops, two doctors, a lawyer and insurance agent and four cattle agents.

At the turn of the 20th century, Barlow’s had a much different appearance from what is seen today. What appears to be one lengthy building today was at one time three separate buildings. The tallest part, to the left was the general store, the smaller area in the center was the store’s storage building, and the lowest part to the right "" now the post office "" was an ice cream parlor. As the century progressed, it was converted into one long building.

One of the mentioned barber shops was upstairs in the taller end of the store. Paul Maurer was the barber until 1965, when he felt it was no longer profitable to journey over from Franklin once a week. That ended a tradition that had lasted at least 50 years.

Today, Barlow’s has the feel of a convenience store to it, but there are plenty of reminders of previous centuries. A black safe, installed by the second owner, Chester Treadwell, is still used, with flowers painted on its door.

One of the longest tenured proprietors of the store, Cal Davidson, recalled there used to be a tremendous inventory, supplying residents with everything from groceries to barbed wire. This was an era between 1937 and 1984. Davidson used to spend four days a week on the road with his delivery truck, traveling from Walton to Delhi and points in between.

"Women never came to the store as much as men," Davidson once said. "The women would send the men with a grocery list "" then the men would sit around the pot-bellied stove that used to be in the center of the store. They would gossip while the clerk ran around and filled the orders."

When the big supermarkets moved to Oneonta’s Southside in the 1990s and into Delhi, shopping changed. But Barlow’s continues to be a center of activity, part post office (since 1984), grocery and convenience store, butcher, deli, hardware store, gas station and, more recently, a small bookstore.

"It’s not just a store, it’s a community event," Helen Mitchell said. "People come in and cry, they laugh, they meet each other. A lot of these people wouldn’t see each other if it wasn’t for the post office. Sometimes people will be in here for hours, like a conference."

On Monday: A love affair with automobiles and drive-in convenience.

City Historian Mark Simonson’s column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or e-mail him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com.