1

This is a photo of the original Knapp store on Main street in Hemlock NY circa 1900. The store was located just south of the bridge. The view in this photo is looking west at the front of the store. This building burnt in 1908 and was replaced.

The people in the buggy and sitting in front of the store are unidentified.

Photo courtesy of Douglas Connor.

2

Another photo of the original Knapp store looking north along Main street in Hemlock NY circa 1908. This building burnt that year of 1908 and was replaced. The building had been built circa 1900.

This photo courtesy of Douglas Connor.

3

A photo of the ruins of the Knapp store on Main street in Hemlock NY circa 1908. The building burnt in 1908 and was replaced. The white barn on the left was spared and can be seen in the earlier photo of 1900.

Photo courtesy of Jane Schryver.

4

A photo of the new Knapp store on Main street in Hemlock NY circa 1908. The building burnt that year of 1908 and in this photo is under construction and nearly complete.

The people in this photo are unidentified.

Photo courtesy of Douglas Connor.

5

A photo of the new Knapp store on Main street in Hemlock NY circa 1908. The building burnt that year of 1908 and in this photo is under construction and nearly complete. Notice the new stone or concrete block on the front right announcing the year 1908.

The people in this photo are unidentified.

Photo courtesy of Douglas Connor.

6

A photo of the new Knapp store on Main street in Hemlock NY circa 1908. The building burnt that year of 1908 and in this photo the re-construction is complete and George E. Knapp has replaced his name over the entrance of his store. On display in the windows are clothing, hardware and a sign announcing fireworks.

Notice the stone block on the front right announcing the year 1908 in which it was rebuilt. The man sitting on the upper balcony has not been identified.

To the far right is the Purcell Lumber store.

Photo courtesy of Douglas Connor.

7

A photo of the Knapp store on Main street in Hemlock NY circa 1908, after the fire. The building burnt in 1908 and was rebuilt. An auto is parked in front of the store and a small group of people stands in front of the store and a woman stands on the balcony above. None of the people in this picture are identified.

Photo courtesy of Joyce O’Neil.

8

A photo of the inside of the Knapp store on Main street in Hemlock NY circa 1920. The building burnt in 1908 and was rebuilt.

Putnam-Noyes tents are advertised on the right. The reputation of the Putnam-Noyes tents goes back to the battle of Bunker Hill in the Revolution in 1775.

The woman sitting behind the counter is unidentified.

Photo courtesy of Lee Wemett.

9

A photo of the inside of the Knapp store on Main street in Hemlock NY in 1947. There is a calendar on the wall for the year 1947. The building burnt in 1908 and was rebuilt.

None of the people in this photo have been identified.

Photo courtesy of the Livonia Historical Society.

10

A photo of Main street of Hemlock NY in 1949. On the left is the Club Restaurant and to the right is the Knapp store. The Knapp store burnt in 1908 and was rebuilt.

Photo courtesy of the Tom Westbrook.

Knapp’s Store, Hemlock, Going Out of Business

From the Livonia Gazette, 18 October 1956

Rediscovered by Douglas Morgan.

Elsewhere in today’s issue of this newspaper there is a going-out of business sale advertised by the Knapp Store in Hemlock. Old Father Time has accomplished what panic, fire, and depression failed to do, and the store will close as soon as the stock is disposed of.

It was in 1900 that Charles Holley and George E. Knapp bought the general store operated by John Coykendall and established the partnership of Holley & Knapp. After six years Mr. Holley disposed of his interest and, moving to Livonia, entered into a partnership with B. C. Black.

Mr. Knapp continued to carry on the general store in Hemlock until February, 1908, when fire destroyed the building. Mr. Knapp moved into the Haggerty Hotel, the present location of the post office, and kept the grocery business open while a new building was being constructed.

This building, the present home of the store, was occupied in August of 1908 and the business was carried on by Mr. Knapp until his death in 1928. Since then Mrs. Knapp has continued the store, but blindness and the other tolls of time have brought about the decision to close this long chapter in the history of Hemlock’s mercantile life.