The story of the St. James General Store with the Smith family. In the early 1840's, Ebenezer Smith, a descendant of Richard "Bull" Smith, lived within a hamlet of Smithtown known as Sherawogge. Ebenezer headed for the West for a few years. Having some success there, Ebenezer returned to Long Island to build a General Store in 1857. By that time, the name of Sherawogge was changed to St. James in honor of the local Episcopal Church.
The heart of the business district was on Moriches Road from its intersection with Three Sisters Road south to North Country Road. At this site, Ebenezer conducted his business until the St. James General Store, now the hub of the community, was inherited by Everett Smith, son of Ebenezer.
Here, the residents purchased yard goods, kitchen wares, medicine, shoes, horse medicine, tobacco, groceries, hardware, and more. Since the Post Office was located within this store, it became a central meeting place where the townfolk gathered to wait for the mail, to catch up on the local gossip and to keep in touch with the world.
There were parties, dances and seasonal celebrations held in a large room upstairs. When the first telephone in the village was installed in the store, the establishment became even more of a community center.
The old store ledgers show the names of William Gaynor, Mayor of New York; Stanford White, world famous architect; Frank McNish, Lionel Barrymore, Virginia Lee and Joe Flynn. Later these early stars and personalities were followed by others such as Ethel and John Barrymore, Lillian Russel, Maud Adams, Buster Keaton, Myrna Loy, Ruth Roman, Irving Berlin and Heavyweight Champion James J. Corbett.
As the calendar drifted from the 1800's to the 1900's, Everett Smith, Ebenezer's son, still ran the store. There is a story that Everett Smith, as a courtesy, stepped outside to deliver mail to women on horseback who did not want to dismount their horses and come into the store. After a while, he tired of dashing in and out of the store. He posted a sign stating "people on horseback must enter store for mail." One day, a women entered the store for her mail - on horseback.
In July of 1990 the 133 year-old general store was purchased in a joint preservation effort between Suffolk County and New York State. The state bestowed a $110,000 grant to make the purchase possible.
Throughout the years the old store has resisted the changes of progress. It is unchanged structurally since 1894. The original counters and cases, the post office, coffee grinder, tea canisters, pot belly stove, barrels, old checkerboard, and many other items remain to permit visitors to look at the Long Island of the Nineteenth Century.
The St. James General Store is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Source:
“St. James General Store.” Suffolk County Government, www.suffolkcountyny.gov/Departments/Parks/Historic-Sites/St-James-General-Store. Accessed 17 Mar. 2025.