He also purchased 2 acres of adjacent land from Asa Hill Jr on April 21 (deed 30/556). This purchase included wood, stone, brick, manure, and the nearbby Fairbanks Scales.
Edwin, formerly a carpenter, constructed a two-story wood structure with a store on the first floor and a meeting hall on the second known as Central Hall, near the present site of Town Hall.
Edwin's unmaried uncle Samuel S Parkhurst ran his "E K Parkhurst" store during the Civil War years while living with the Richardson family next door at 1-3 North Road. Prior to 1861, Samuel was a storekeeper on the site where Central House is today, until that store was either moved or destroyed by fire. The Soldiers' Aid Society met regularly in Central Hall to quilt, knit, and make articles for the soldiers fighting in the War. Dances and social events were also held in the hall.
The image below shows the store and Central Hall at its original location. The Richardson house is at left and the D B Emerson (later Charles Sweetser) house at right.
George Parkhurst's brother S Waldo Parkhurst took over operation of the store after Samuel died. The image at right shows the new "S W Parkhurst" sign, and S Waldo is identifid as the man leaning on the post. A Village Improvement Association oil lamp is mounted in between two Post Office signs to illuminate the intersection at night. Former owner Edwin Parkhurst was a founder of the Village Improvement Association. The open shed on the right is not the same as the original.
Heirs to her property were Benjamin M Fiske of Somerville, Joseph W Fiske of New York, NY, and John M Fiske of Cambridge, with Benjamin's son Frederick A P Fiske appointed agent for the above heirs (partition 225/215).
The image below shows an extension added onto the rear of the building and the open shed on the right now fully enclosed.
S Waldo and clerk Paul Dutton were Weighers of Hay, Measurers of Wood, and Weighers of Coal for the town. In the image below, the drive-on-drive-off Fairbanks hay scale is on the left of the large tree and the watering trough, that still exists today, is to the right of the tree with a hand pump to fill the trough for your horse.
Emma Parkhurst and Fred Tangley were serving as clerks in the S W Parkhurst store, but Fred left in January and was replaced by 16-year-old Henry Eriksen.
The same day G Thomas and his wife Ednah Parkhurst purchased the 1/4 acre store property from Doris Stevens of Lowell (deed 861/368).
Due to increasing competition from local supermarkets, Eriksen's Grocery became Eriksen's General Store, and Eleanor took charge of the Parkhurst Press business upstairs. Both businesses ran for the next eight years.
Now retired from Eriksen's General Store, Henry became president of Eriksen's Antiques across the street in his barn at 15 Chelmsford Street, living in his historic attached home at 21 Chelmsford Street. His antiques included items saved from his General Store plus inventory of the Kidder Hardware and Paints Store he purchased in the early 1940s.
Eleanor Parkhurst continued the Parkhurst Press business upstairs at adress 56 Central Square for another five years.
Bradford "Brad" Emerson gutted and remodelled both floors of the former Eriksen's General Store, as seen in the early 1970 image below, to create modern commercial spaces. A hand powered winch system used to move heavy goods between floors was removed and donated to the Chelmsford Historical Society where it can still be seen today.
ERIKSEN’S CORNER DEDICATED:
"On August 6 the corner familiarly known as Chicken Corner in Central Square was named for longtime local businessman Henry Eriksen (R) who operated a grocery store from 1941 to 1969 in what is now the Parkhurst Building. Sel John Emerson, Jr (L) was in charge of the brief ceremony. Standing with him and Mr Eriksen is Attorney and Town Moderator Dennis McHugh whose law offices are in the building which has a very long history of its own. It was originally located near the present Town Hall, was moved during the Civil War period to the corner of Chelmsford Street, and remained in the ownership of the Parkhurst family until 1969 - more than 125 years.
Among other distinctions, Mr Eriksen was the manager of the first 'chain store' to come into town - E E Gray Co (1923). It was followed later by First National and A & P stores at the other end of the Square. From 1941, however, he operated his own grocery store at the same corner location now bearing his name. His association with the building, however, began in 1915, as an employee of the S W Parkhurst grocery store."
Man who was friend to all is remembered by many
"By Lisa Nevana Staff Writer
"A storyteller who loved people. The kind, old grocer who knew everyone in town and who cared about them. Ask any of the late Henry Eriksen's friends and relatives about him and they paint a portrait straight out of a Norman Rockwell picture.
"'Henry was the kind of guy you see in Pepperidge Farm commercials, sitting in the store telling stories' said Selectman Dennis Ready, who, like many others who grew up in Chelmsford, remembers sitting on the porch of Eriksen's General Store as a boy.
"Memories of Eriksen, who died after a brief illness on February 8, are inexorably linked with memories of his Central Square store. 'Growing up, it was the kind of place you’d hang around in the summer,' Ready remembered. 'It was your typical country store with candy, a deli, canned goods, ice cream — it was THE place.'
"Longtime friend Leonard MacElroy of Summer Street introduced Eriksen to Helen MacFayden, who later became Eriksen's wife of 63 years. MacElroy remembered the store as 'quite a meeting place. We had a store across the street and used to fraternize. You'd go into the store to discuss the topics of the day or newsworthy items in the paper.'
"But the most memorable part of the store was the front porch with its bench. 'It was a gathering [place] for kids after school,' reminisced Eriksen's daughter, Virginia Pontefract of Brentwood Road. 'Everyone went there because it was in the center of town — you could see everything. People would stand there looking for accidents to happen at the corner — and many did,' she said.
"Orchard Lane resident Dick Lahue, Jr, who worked for Eriksen for 37 years, began with him at the age of 11, stocking shelves. Lahue remembers sitting on the porch bench as a boy of 11 or 12. ''(Eriksen) would be at the screen door in his apron. He'd have rakes or shovels on the porch, and would take them in at 6 pm We'd take 'em back out the side door, and put ’em back on the porch. Then we hid them in the meat case ... He never got mad.'
"After Eriksen retired In 1969, he used to walk over from his 21 Chelmsford Street home to look at the building on the corner of Chelmsford Street and Billerica Road, wishing the porch were still there, friends said. 'Why didn't they leave that porch on?' Pontefract remembers her father saying often.
"Born in Chelmsford in 1898, 'Eriksen worked for Eben Adams as a boy, delivering groceries by horse and buggy,' Pontefract said. In 1923, he became manager of the general store owned by E E Gray, later owned by Economy Stores, the predecessor of Stop & Shop. Eriksen bought the store in 1941, operating it until he retired in 1969.
Historical Society photo 1998.20.51558
"'When supermarkets came to town, Eriksen began selling paint and hardware, and later antiques, but continued to sell essentials like bread and milk,' Pontefract said. After he retired, he moved his antiques to his barn, always maintaining his license to sell.
“'I drove him around through New Hampshire and Mass, buying and selling antiques. 'When you buy it, it's junk; when you sell it, it’s antiques.' he'd say, Lahue laughed.
"Most of all, Eriksen is remembered for his stories and his love of people. 'He had loads of friends, young and old,' said Pontefract. 'He told stories over and over. They had already heard them, but they enjoyed hearing him tell it.'
"Eriksen truly cared about his customers, his friends said. 'He carried people during World War II,' Lahue explained. 'He'd let people go and pay when they could. He made sure nobody starved.'
Pontefract said her brother, Donald Eriksen of Miami, recently told her that their father gave baskets of food to his customers with big families at Christmas. And during the Second World War, she remembers him saving butter, which was rationed, for his customers.
"Eriksen loved people so much he even enjoyed wakes, Lahue said. 'Whenever anybody died, he'd go and pay his respects. Then he always wanted to wait by the back door to catch everybody going in and out to talk to them. He would’ve loved his own wake, because all his old pals showed up.'
"Popularly known as 'Chicken Corner,' the intersection of Chelmsford Street and Billerica Road were proclaimed 'Eriksen's Corner' on August 6, 1985. 'He was on that corner for 45 years — that's why they named it after him,' Lahue said ...
"Pontefract summed up her memory of her father: 'He Just loved people so much.' Those who knew him will cherish his memory as an embodiment of a simpler time."
- All photos labeled (colorized) are black and white images edited by Fred Merriam
- Book, Arcadia Publishing, 2014, "Images of America, Chelmsford Revisited" by Fred Merriam
- Book, Courier Printing, 2011, "History of Chelmsford 1910-1970" by Eleanor Parkhurst and Fred Merriam
- Cemetery Records, Town of Chelmsford
- Conversation with Sharon Boyer, Departmental Assistant, DPW
- Conversation with Dennis McHugh, Owner, McHugh Law
- Deeds, Middlesex North Registry deeds, partition, probate docket, assignment, and resignation as listed
- Newspaper, "Chelmsford Independent," as credited
- Newspaper, "Chelmsford Newsweekly," as credited
- Newspaper, "The Lowell Sun," as credited
- Photo collection, Chelmsford Historical Society
- Photo collection, Fred Merriam, Chelmsford
- Postal Records, Letter from US Post Office historian
- Website, Chelmsford Historical Commission, History-Businesses page, State Inventory CLM.20
- Website, Chelmsford Historical Society, Media-Directories page, directories by year
- Website, Google Earth Pro
| This feature was created by Fred Merriam for the Town of Chelmsford in cooperation with the Chelmsford Historical Society and Historical Commission. To comment: e-mail the Chelmsford Historical Society |