Undated photo showing the interior of the Gilford Store. A variety of bottles, jars, boxes, and cans can be seen behind the counter and in the foreground, with advertisements for Old Dutch cleanser, Magic Baking Powder, and Salada Tea also visible. A copy of this photo was displayed in the Gilford Community Hall for a number of years. James Andrew Blain and Helen (Maconchy) were proprietors of the Gilford store from 1885-1919. James Blain emigrated from Castlewellan, County Down, Ireland, to Gilford about 1876 at age 25 and began clerking in this store, then owned by Squire Thomas Maconchy. In 1882 he married Maconchy's eldest daughter, Helen Amelia, and they moved into the apartment over the store. In 1885 he purchased the store and became postmaster, railway ticket agent, and telegrapher. He also operated a cheese factory, later a creamery, south of the Temperance Hall, and subsequently he donated that location as a community park. In 1919 the store was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Badger and the Blains retired to Glenholme Avenue in Toronto.
