This double storey brick shop replaced a shop destroyed by fire in 1896 (see previous entry). It was operated as a family grocery and hardware store by Joseph Shepherd until his death in 1921.
Subsequent proprietors or managers of grocery businesses here were Alf Darling and Richard Albert Crosthwaite. G G Bennett moved his butchery here in 1932 from 87 Sussex St and operated here until 1946, when it was bought by Rex Hayward. Other butchers followed, including Ken Walters and Arthur Uren. Frank Verdoorn bought the building and opened his own butcher’s shop in 1974, later adding a newsagency in the other half.
More recently, this building has housed in its southern half, an upholstery business, a second-hand clothing shop and a collectables and giftware shop.
Have a look at the picture on your screen and you will see the view from the early 1900s of Sussex St looking north. Shepherd’s grocery store is on the left, with the fence of the Shire offices and Hall next door, and various small shops, down to Barr’s shop on the corner.
