Union Store

This was the South Berwick chapter of the first consumers’ cooperative in the United States. “Union Store No. 79: General Goods was established by the New England Protective Union, with headquarters in Boston, Mass., about 1849, as a branch union,” reported the 1880 History of York County. “The store was once burned, but opened soon after. John S. Pike has been the agent since it first commenced business in the place.” Pike (c. 1815-1888) had earlier had a “hat, cap and fur business,” according to a memoir by Mary Jewett. In 1871, Pike lived in the Elisha and Sally Jewett House, 176 Portland Street, with his wife, Abby.