Jericho / Vermont / United States
Jericho Center Country Store was founded in 1807 as Blackmans Store, by Pliny Blackman. Blackmans store originally offered a few staple groceries such as flour, sugar, rum, gin, and molasses. He obtained his goods by traveling to Winooski, then via raft up Lake Champlain to the St. Lawrence River, then north to Montreal where he bartered for the goods he would resell at his store. The store changed hands a few times over the next century, most notably to the Jordan Brothers. They took over the store in the late 1800s and ran it for more than three decades. The original store building burned in the late 19th century and was rebuilt as a larger, two-story structure. The structure remains as it is today, with a few changes. Gerry and Lil Desso took ownership of the store in the late 1960s, christened it Dessos General Store, and established themselves as two of the most beloved people in town. For three decades Jerry and Lil could be seen stocking their shelves and manning the cash register everyday. Their busy store was packed full of groceries, animal feed, hardware, and toys, and in a time devoid of big boxed stores, their store prospered. Dessos Store was truly the mecca of Jericho Center, and townspeople today cherish their memories of going into Dessos, finding almost anything they needed ( after some searching ), and raiding the.25 cent drawers for curious and delightful treasures. Today, the Dessos are still cherished in Jericho Center. A childrens book, The Storekeeper, by local author Tracey Campbell Pearson, is based on Dessos General Store. The St. Amour family bought the store in 2002 and continue to run the store and serve the community of Jericho Center to this day. The store has been featured in The Burlington Free Press, Seven Days, the Essex Reporter, Vermont Life Magazine, and the independent Vermont film, Shout It Out. IS JERICHO COUNTRY STORE HAUNTED Rumors abound of Jericho Country Store being haunted by a friendly ghosts. Eyewitnesses, mostly store employees, have reported instances of baby cries and laughs, things moving and falling mysteriously, knocks on doors, ghostly images, and more. One day a customer and an employee, in the midst of a conversation, witnessed a key jumping off a nearby hook, doing an arc in the air, and falling a few feet away! During a store renovation some years back, a store employee lost a precious diamond earring. After relentless searching, it was feared lost forever. The next day, the employee arrived to open the store early in the morning. When she opened the door, the precious earring was there to greet her, right in the open! Children of one of the store owners have also had a few conversations over the years, seemingly with no one when, they were very little. One day a customer, who was visiting Vermont from out-of-state and is a working "medium, " took one step through our door and immediately commented that the store had spirits here!
