Like so many general stores in New England, Alphonse Dibble’s store was a place that one could get just about anything they needed. The market sold grain and horse medicine, cookware and clothing, tobacco and coffee, stoves and boots, remedies and pocket watches, sewing notions and writing paper, and a variety of dry goods, produce, and meat. Probably some of the eggs that were sold at the store came from the Dibble’s own hens, housed in one of the family’s barns. Dibble’s Store also served a meeting place to exchange town gossip, and a convenient location to play a game of checkers or send a wire.

​

The store was a centerpiece of village life, and whenever a packet ship arrived at the dock, everyone headed to the store to see what new items had been added to the inventory: new fabrics, new household goods, and the latest in modern conveniences.

​