By Dennis Young with notes from the Graysville Reunion booklet
With the arrival of the railway in Graysville, Jim and Tom Bruce built the first general store and post office in 1903. The following year, John and Jean Dewar moved to the village and purchased the store, which sadly burned down in 1928. Until 1957, the post office — by then operated by John and his son Comrie — continued to run out of their home.
In 1908, George Gray built the second store, known as the Graysville Supply Company. It was operated by a series of owners until 1946, when Ray and Connie Dunphy purchased it. In the early 1950s, they sold the business to Glen and Edyth Cryderman, who renamed it simply Graysville Supply.
When a new schoolhouse was built in 1920, Gordon Dewar bought the former school building and opened a Red & White franchise. Several owners — the last being James Findlay — kept it going until 1954, when it was sold to the Crydermans. They opened a new store and used the old one for storage, but that building also burned down in 1955, leaving Graysville without a store.
Then came Howard and Ada Stephenson, who purchased what remained of the Red & White (the former school) the following year. In 1957, they added the post office, which had been run out of the Dewar home (that building now resides at the Dufferin Historical Museum). Stephenson’s General Store served the community until 1985, when fire once again ended its operation. Over the years, ownership changed hands several times: Betty Cowen (1977–79), Ivan Lush (1979–80), Bill and Marilyn North (1981–82), and Don and Carroll Kostesky (1982–85).
After the fire, the post office operated out of the Kosteskys’ home until their departure from Graysville. It was then moved to Stow Seed Processors, where Marlene Doerksen ran it — until Petticoat Junction came along.
This combination restaurant–post office–store was built in 1986 by Chris Larson and Maggie Sandulak to restore Graysville’s much-needed gathering place. Irene Stevenson became the owner in 1990.
“Our first year and a half were very good years, as we had the Stow Seed Plant employees who supported our little café very well,” Irene recalled. “It was a great place to gather and enjoy conversation with neighbours and community happenings — but it was hard work and dedication.”
Frank Elias and Barb Hicks took over next. “Barb and I tried something different, but it was not what we really wanted to do for the rest of our lives, lol,” Frank shared. “We just basically got tired of waiting for customers to come on a regular basis. It was always hit and miss when we would be busy.”
They sold the business to the Graysville Development Board in 2000.
Neil MacNair explained that the board was made up of 17 residents — mostly farmers — who banded together to keep the business alive. “The purchase was financed through a combination of contributions from the shareholders and a bank loan,” he said. “Marlene Enns was running the business at the time, so the transfer to the new owners was relatively seamless.”
Marlene operated the business successfully until 2002, when she suffered a fatal heart attack. Barb Reimer was then contracted to continue, which she did until 2006. At that point, the board determined the operation was no longer financially viable, due in part to lost revenue after Canada Post installed community lockboxes. The building was sold, and the remaining funds were donated to the Graysville School Parent Advisory Council.
