Travel back in time at Clayton’s general store
CLAYTON, CA (Mar. 5, 2025) — From the mid-1860s through 1900, Charles Rhine ran a general store that not only sold a wide variety of goods but was also the town’s civic center and post office.
The Clayton Museum’s new exhibit, “Clayton’s General Store,” lets visitors discover what it was like to shop, gossip and socialize at the Rhine store – where customers could find just about everything they needed all in one place.
Using sources such as the Contra Costa County Library’s historical newspaper collection and product labels from the California State Archive’s old trademark files, museum co-curator Nancy Niemeyer has created a colorful display about the products and services the Rhine general store offered.
In the 1800s, general stores were dimly lit, crowded spaces packed with groceries, hardware, pots and pans, tools, fabric, patent medicines, and more. Customers paid cash when they had it, bartered with the store when they could and bought goods on credit the rest of the time. Instead of picking out their own items, customers had to rely on store clerks to collect and wrap up their choices. Luckily, Charles Rhine had 10 children and 14 nieces and nephews who could help out at the store.
Community center
Being Clayton’s community center, the Rhine store was also the place where residents gathered to catch up on the latest news, politics, events and tall tales. It served as Clayton’s bulletin board, where the public could view notices, legal documents, announcements and other information. When the locals got together for a chat on the store’s porch or around its wood-burning stove, the result was the formation of many Clayton clubs, celebrations, political rallies, sports teams and civic projects.
As the local operator for the Western Union Telegraph Co. and the Contra Costa Telephone Co., Rhine had the only telegraph and telephone in town. Anyone who wanted to make or receive a telephone call had to use the “party line” shared by everyone in Clayton, Antioch and the region’s coal mining towns.
There was no privacy because all the telephones on the line rang when there was a call, making eavesdropping easy. Calls made outside the local line had to be routed through one or more telephone exchanges. The line could handle only one call at a time and there was no service at night.
For a colorful look at shopping in the 1800s, come see the general store exhibit at the Clayton Historical Society’s Museum, 6101 Main St.
The exhibit will run throughout the rest of 2025.
For more information on the exhibit and the Clayton Historical Society, visit https://claytonhistory.org.