Saturday, August 6, 2011

Bygone Business: Bartholomew's Neighborhood Store

Clarion photo of Mildred Bartholomew in her store in 1975
If you grew up in the southwestern section of town before 1975, you probably remember buying yourself a cold pop at Bartholomew's store. Mildred S. Bartholomew and her husband, Lucius "Bart" Bartholomew, operated the little grocery and snack shop in a small 14 x 18 room in their home at 710 Renshaw.  They started out in 1941 with a partner, George Boyle, but bought out his widow's share of the business after his death.  The store was a popular stop for neighborhood kids, who bought cold drinks and penny candy from Mrs. Bartholomew for 34 years. Left to carry on alone after her husband's death in 1948, she made a go of the little grocery until the refrigeration unit in her cold case failed her in 1975, and she decided it was better to close the business and retire than to spend money on repairs.  Mrs. Bartholomew died in 1983.
Posted by Remembering Rochester at 7:00 AM

4 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 26, 2011 at 8:33 PM

    I remember "Barts Store" with gteat fondness having grown up on Helen St and S.Castell when my family first moved to Rochester from up north in 1944.

    Gail Hood Bothwell

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  2. AnonymousAugust 28, 2011 at 1:14 PM

    Richard Knickerbocker and I (Richard Rollman) bought Pop and drank them on her lawn on Saturdays.
    I lived in the second house from the corner of 1st and Helen St.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousNovember 9, 2013 at 3:06 PM

    Richard, do you have a brother Ronnie? I remember my mother mentioning that name and my parents are still in contact with him to this day. He was supposed to come visit this summer, but something came up. My mother lived on Helen, just N of First. Janice Singles and Gary is my uncle. My father Ken Schwark and his brother Bill lived around the corner on Fairview. My parents married and we lived on Alice Street. I was only about 4 or 5, but I got to go to Bart's Store a few times.It's a fond little memory of the early 70's for me, just before Rochester boomed, unfortunately! My parents are divorced but my father and mom Carol live on Helen street today, right next door to where my mother grew up. I'm so glad I found this article, and I'm recognizing these names from a post on made on Facebook in a group dedicated to Growing up in Rochester in the 1970's.

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  4. AnonymousMay 23, 2015 at 7:55 PM

    I lived on First St and Alice St. After I finished my paper route we would go to Bart's and get a soda and Snicker's and sit on the porch. then take our bottle in for a refund for penny candy.

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