Gone Without a Trace: The Country Store of Yesteryear, Brighton

Most people outside of the Brighton area may not be aware there was once a tourist attraction called ‘History Town’, located in Brighton at 6070 Grand River Avenue.

Within that attraction was the Country Store of Yesteryear.

The store was opened by Frank Lenox, George Pah, and their wives, possibly in 1971. In 1974 it was sold to Grace Wallace and Margaret Perkins, who managed it for the rest of its existence.

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The whole idea behind the Country Store of Yesteryear was to have the appearance and atmosphere of an old-time general store. To add to its authenticity, fixtures were installed that came from an old general store that was located in Perry.

Many times, these old general stores were more than just a grocer; this one included a mock-up of a Post Office which was included in many of these old stores. Some old ones even included upstairs rooms for guests (but not this one).

The Country Store of Yesteryear had an impressive doll house for customers to admire and even included doll house accessories so people could make and customize their own unique doll houses.

Penny candy, holiday ornaments, antiques, toys, candles, and more cool stuff were found throughout the store. Why and when it permanently closed are good questions. The whole store and History Town were completely demolished and cleared out, leaving absolutely no trace of what used to be on that site.

It's been gone now for over 20 years, and now it looks like apartment buildings are going up. Photos are scarce, but if you scroll down, you can see where it was once located.