Gray's General Store is a general store located at 4 Main Street in

Adamsville, Rhode Island Adamsville, Rhode Island is a historic village in Little Compton, Rhode Island. It was first settled in 1675 around the time of King Philip's War and was named after the second president of the United States, John Adams. Historic sites Grays ...

. Founded in 1788, it operated for almost 225 years and was reputed to be the oldest continually operating general store in the United States."Gray's Store, 224-Year-Old Rhode Island General Store, Closes Its Doors Today"
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Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

''. Retrieved 7/30/12. The store featured an old-fashioned marble

soda fountain A soda fountain is a device that dispenses carbonated soft drinks, called fountain drinks. They can be found in restaurants, concession stands and other locations such as convenience stores. The device combines flavored syrup or syrup concent ...

, cigar and tobacco cases, and Rhode Island

johnnycake Johnnycake, also known as journey cake, johnny bread, hoecake, shawnee cake or spider cornbread, is a cornmeal flatbread, a type of batter bread. An early American staple food, it is prepared on the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to Jamaica. ...

s. In 2007, U.S. Senator Jack Reed and then-Governor

Donald Carcieri Donald Louis Carcieri ( ; ; born December 16, 1942) is an American politician and corporate executive who served as the 73rd Governor of Rhode Island from January 2003 to January 2011. Carcieri has worked as a manufacturing company executive, aid ...

issued proclamations naming Gray's as the oldest continuously run general store in the country. The store was owned and operated by the same family since 1879, entailing seven generations. Gray's also was the location of the first post office in Little Compton, founded in 1804. Gray's temporarily closed on Sunday, July 29, 2012, after the death of its proprietor due to lack of interest in keeping the store open by relatives, citing that "the shop's finances aren't sustainable and a supermarket down the street has siphoned away business." The store re-opened in the summer of 2013.

References

Companies based in Rhode Island Buildings and structures in Newport County, Rhode Island Tourist attractions in Newport County, Rhode Island American companies established in 1788 General stores in the United States {{US-retail-company-stub