The History of the Store, cont'd

That the buildings have survived intact and unchanged is a combination of luck, yankee thrift, economics and population. After Silas Wheeler's death his son Morrison continued to live upstairs in the apartment that the family had always occupied, and thankfully he kept the building heated and weather-tight. The items in the store came close to being disposed of in the early 80's until someone made the decision to close the town dump!

Mr. Wheeler's decision to continue to live upstairs prevented the building from incurring irreparable damage, and since his lifestyle never changed much, he made the decision to not remodel the building in any way. Most people might balk at using an outhouse in 2001, but not Mr. Wheeler! When you've used it all your life, why change? As he remarked once, "It's not like it's a social room you spend much time in!" Given the fact that he was in his late 70's and could probably pass for 20 years younger, there might be something to that!

The town's own history has a role in the survival of the store as well. Incorporated in 1767, the town grew from 150 people to over 1100 by 1800, a rate of growth that exceeded any other community in Worcester county. By the turn of the century there were over 2,400 living in Hubbardston. Although once a thriving farm community, adjacent to the equally thriving furniture-producing city of Gardner and 20 miles north of Worcester, by the time of the store's closure, the town's population had dwindled to less than 1,200. The creation of the Quabbin reservoir and subsequent land purchases to protect the watershed had a deep impact on local factories using the Ware river for water power. The region as a whole suffered economically, and this probably prevented the store from being 'modernized' by eager investors. History has a way of repeating itself, though, and between 1990 and 2000 Hubbardston again recorded the greatest percentage growth in population, from around 3,000 to over 4,000, a growth rate of over 30%! This led to new business growth, and a renewed interest in 'the store'. The chance meeting between Jay Beard and one of the Wheeler Brothers set the wheels in motion, and the rest is history!