Last updated: 12/25/2016
Plaza Drive
Leavenworth, IN 47137
PO Box 256
Leavenworth, IN 47137
Monday - Saturday
7 AM - 6 PM
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Tony Gallina
phone: 812-739-4242
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Judy Gallina
phone: 812-739-4242
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This is the old kind of general store to which your grandparents would have gone shopping. The store has been a landmark in the community since the early 1900's and continues to maintain old charm with modern shopping conveniences. They have an old ice cream bar, deli, antiques, pottery, pizza and hot foods. You won't believe their antique cookie jar collection. The display of Leavenworth's history is interesting. They have a nice display of old photos from the 1937 flood.
The story of Stephenson’s General Store begins in 1917 when John Ed Stephenson and his three oldest sons purchased the Conrad Brothers Hardware Store, originally built in the 1870s, in Leavenworth by the Ohio River. John Ed had been a sawmill operator and a school teacher. The Stephensons added to the merchandise, including groceries, harnesses, harness repair supplies, feed, seed and farm implements. They maintained a casket house with an elevator. This led to another family business, the Stephenson Funeral Home, which operated for 50 years. Sometimes they would be called on to take a skiff across the Ohio River to pick up a body for embalming. They owned an elaborate horse drawn hearse and hired a matched team of horses from the local livery stable for funerals. Eventually John Ed’s sons Harold and Paul bought out their brother. Later Harold bought out Paul. Harold’s son, Jack, inherited the store when his father died.
The store was located in Leavenworth, very near the bank of the Ohio River, where spring floods were often a threat. Moving the merchandise to the second floor always took care of this, until the 1937 flood when 17 feet of water flooded the store. After this flood, the store operated temporarily from the Mansfield Church and the Leavenworth Community Hall while the present building was being constructed. Most people moved to the new town on the bluff and a few businesses resumed operation away from the danger of flooding. The building you see today was built primarily from materials salvaged from the original store. Stephenson’s General Store has survived World Wars I and II, the Great Depression and arson. After 91 years of operation, the Stephenson family closed the business in 2008.
The building was purchased in 2010 by local citizens, Tony & Judy Gallina of Sulphur, and Grant & Tina Jones of Leavenworth, for the purpose of restoring a general store to the community. The new store retains the name Stephenson’s General Store and will continue to offer goods and services of many kinds, with a focus on that which is needed by the local community, campers and out-of-town guests and travelers. As much as is possible, locally produced items and crafts will be featured in the store to support its neighbors and to maintain the unique character and rich heritage of Leavenworth and surrounding communities.
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