Porch (Todd’s General Store)

A trip into town for a farmer would usually be planned in advance. Farmers would bring goods to trade that had been made or grown on their farms. The porch at a general store served as a loading dock for goods they were purchasing, as well as a place to unload what they brought to trade.

Today, the porch on Todd’s General Store, here at the Farmer’s Museum, has a railing for the safety of visitors.

Slate

Instead of writing in notebooks, students used a slate and slate pencil to do their school lessons in the mid-nineteenth century. After copying a lesson, they would study and memorize it in preparation for reciting the lesson to the teacher. The slates and slate pencils were usually purchased at the local general store.