For thirty-five years, Carroll Fordyce Jenkins kept a general store on the corner of North Street and East Main in Williamsburg. Born in 1901, Jenkins, known locally as “Bid”, his store, and his cats, are remembered by many people in town. He died relatively young, at 60, in 1962, and is buried in Village Hill Cemetery, his grave marked by the Jenkins—Tiley family stone.
This vintage postcard shows the store, with its large glass windows, and columned porch decorated with a few flower boxes. A lawnmower for keeping the property tidy, hides in the shadows on the left side of the building. The store offered a great variety of things, including stationery, magazines, newspapers, food, medicine, sundries, and candy.
The store also offered ice cream—as the big sign on the porch for La Salle’s Ice Cream proclaims. The La Salle Ice Cream Company, was local—in Northampton. The La Salle’s Ice Cream Bar itself was at 238 Bridge Street in Northampton. LaSalle’s Ice Cream “bricks”— quart rectangular boxes of ice cream, bore their logo with a red Jersey cow and their motto: “Typical Jersey Quality”. Ice cream from Jenkins Store was a favorite with local kids.
The store building still stands on the corner. Over its lifetime, it has been a realtor’s office and is now a private home. The steps are still there. The porch roof and pillars and the big elm tree are now gone. What do you remember about Jenkins, Jenkins Store, or eating La Salle’s ice cream? The postcard is from a scrapbook in the Meekins Local History Collection, a gift from the Swanda/Wells Family. The ice cream box photo is from the Etsy website. Daria D’Arienzo, Meekins Archivist. #throwbackthursday; #tbt
Posted to Facebook 2/26/2026