Bicentennial Story #149-The Gorham Store and post office

Bicentennial Story #149-The Gorham Store and post office

History of the Gorham Cooperative Store and post office.

11/25/1975

Mrs. Elwood Hickey

This recording cannot be copied or reproduced without the written permission of the Dickinson Museum Center. This recording may be freely used for education uses, so long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this recording file is permitted without written permission of the Dickinson Museum Center.

mp3

audio reel, analog, 1/4 inch polyester tape

English

BS-149

Gorham, ND

Copyright Stark County Historical Society and Dickinson Museum Center

In 1917 the Gorham ranchers and farmers organized a Gorham Co-operative store. Some of the directors were Austin Meed, B.C. Johnson, E.W. Telford, and A.W. Barnes. They bought the store owned by Lou Havnvik and Art Thorson and hired George Hickey to manage it. It was a large two story building with the living quarters on the second floor and the store and post office on the first. The Hickey family moved in in December of 1917 and in early January, 1918, on a bitter cold night the store caught fire and burned to the ground. Nothing was saved except a few blankets and the family wrapped in these while George walked to the Johnson farm for help. The store was rebuilt and George continued to run it until it was sold to Roy Deitz in 1920. George then built a store and post office across the road and operated it until 1928. Since then it has had several owners and in 1972 the store was moved to hiway 85 and the little town of Gorham is no more.

This is Bicentennial Story No. 149, prepared by Mrs. Elwood Hickey of Belfield.

Sound recordings

1:42

128kbps

1970 1979

Bicentennial tape #8, Bicentennial stories 130-151