Long a fixture of Sharon Valley, the "Valley Store" was opened by Aaron Reed in 1820. Hotchkiss and Company, manufacturers of malleable iron products such as curry combs, nails, mousetraps and screw wrenches, operated the store from the middle of the nineteenth century. In the 1930s, the store was operated by Alanson (Lance) Middlebrook and his wife, Ruth, and employed young men as clerks and delivery men. Lance served as a state representative from Sharon. Note the outhouse to the left and the Sharon Valley Post Office sign. The hillside on the far right, behind the Valley Tavern building, might look rather bare compared to today. The trees throughout the region were cut to make the charcoal necessary for iron production.