Heritage Trail Guide

Stop #4 - Stephen French General Store and Post Office (c.1840)

Less than a decade after the first train steamed into Monroe in 1840, the community of Stepney had grown so dramatically it merited its own post office.  Post offices then were located in private homes or stores.  The Stephen French General store located at 39 Maple Drive, was the third post office in Monroe and had the advantage of being close to the new train depot at what was originally called Leavenworth Mills.

In 1885 Democrat Grover Cleveland was elected president, and local farmer and Democrat Stephen French was appointed postmaster.  French bought the general store from the man he replaced as postmaster.  The installation of telegraph service in the store two years earlier had made it the community’s transportation and communication nerve center.

In 1888 the Housatonic Railroad appointed Stephen French station agent — but he lost the postmaster’s position when Cleveland lost his bid for re-election.  Four years later the political winds shifted yet again.  Cleveland won a second term as president, and Stephen French got his postmaster’s job back.  The Stephen French store also provided groceries and dry goods to the community, and Stephen French’s brother, William French, operated a livery stable located behind the post office where townspeople could rent a horse and buggy.

Today, the general store and livery stable have been converted to apartments.  The two-story porch balustrades and arches have been removed and the replaced, however some of the original doors still exist.