Poowong General Store - Poowong History Trail

Originally opened in 1879, the General Store has had several owners ... R. White was the owner for 13 years up until 1977; W. & R. Cox from 1977 till January, 1979; J. Dudink from January, 1979, till June, 1980; M. & B. Poustie from June, 1980, and Jill and Tony Lorback in December, 1984. It was then purchased by the Martin family before they later closed the business.

Main Street and the General Store — This photograph, looking west up Main Street, Poowong, shows the General Store in approximately 1940. The picture was supplied by Mrs Joan Ward (nee Derrick) whose father was the storekeeper in that era.

The sub-agency of the Commonwealth Bank was closed in 1986 as a result of computerisation. In 1996 the store was reroofed and old photos provided by former owner David Ballantyne’s family were used to restore the original roofline and verandah. Inside, the shelves remain the same with a ladder still required to “hoist down the Kellogg’s Cornflakes!”

The front steps to the double-doors of the General Store show the wear of time, the traffic of 140 years and could, no doubt, relate more than one story if they could talk.