History
![Vermont Country Store History Image](/ccstore/v1/images/?source=/file/v1139617321443851639/general/history-20190729-feature-history-slide.jpg&height=940&width=940)
In 1946, Vrest and Mildred Ellen Orton
opened The Vermont Country Store in the quaint village of Weston, Vermont. Vrest was inspired by childhood memories of his father's general store in North Calais, Vermont. The Weston store became the first restored rural general store in the nation. Vrest Orton said: "I can still recall my father's store, where most of the men came in the evenings to wait for the horse-drawn stage that brought the mail from Montpelier, 13 miles away."The store was warm and cozy. It smelled of leather harnesses, coffee, smoky kerosene lamps, tobacco and sugar maple logs burning in the potbelly stove.
![Vrest and Mildred Ellen Orton, founders of The Vermont Country Store.](http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/ccstore/v1/images/?source=/file/general/history-20190729-vrest-midlred-back-to-back.jpg)
![The Vermont Country Store, Weston, Vermont.](http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/ccstore/v1/images/?source=/file/general/history-20190729-old-store-full.jpg)
![Gardner Lyman Orton and another gentleman playing checkers by a stove inside The Vermont Country Store.](http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/ccstore/v1/images/?source=/file/general/history-20190729-checkers-2-up.jpg)
![Vrest Orton in front of the Weston store.](http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/ccstore/v1/images/?source=/file/general/history-20190729-old-store-2-up.jpg)
![Vrest Orton with friend Robert Frost.](http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/ccstore/v1/images/?source=/file/general/history-20190729-vrest-r-frost-2-up.jpg)
![Vrest & Mildred Ellen Orton. c.1949.](http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/ccstore/v1/images/?source=/file/general/history-20190729-vrest-midred-winter-2-up.jpg)
The Vermont Country Store Today
The Vermont Country Store is owned by Lyman Orton and sons Cabot, Gardner, and Eliot. Together, we are 7th & 8th generation Vermonters, and 4th & 5th generation storekeepers. We still adhere to the old-fashioned values set forth by our father and grandfather Vrest and take pride in being the Purveyors of the Practical and Hard-to-Find. From our two stores, catalog, and website, we're stocked to the rafters with quality merchandise from around the block and around the world. Speaking for the family, Eliot Orton: "We still go to great lengths to find products that aren't sold anywhere else."![Eliot, Gardner, Lyman, and Cabot Orton, proprietors of The Vermont Country Store.](http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/ccstore/v1/images/?source=/file/general/history-20190729-family-vertical-2-up.jpg)
![The Ortons in the candy section at The Vermont Country Store, Weston, Vermont.](http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/ccstore/v1/images/?source=/file/general/history-20190729-family-candy-counter-full.jpg)
![Bright sunny photo of the Weston storefront.](http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/ccstore/v1/images/?source=/file/general/history-20190729-store-summer-2-up.jpg)
![Snowy, evening photo of Weston storefront with lighted garland wrapping columns](http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/ccstore/v1/images/?source=/file/general/history-20190729-store-xmas-2-up.jpg)
![Photo of the Weston storefront with fall flowers and pumpkins decorating the porch.](http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/ccstore/v1/images/?source=/file/general/history-20190729-store-fall-2-up.jpg)
![Shelves stocked with glass jars, baskets, and tins of vintage candy.](http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/ccstore/v1/images/?source=/file/general/history-candy-counter-201811.jpg)