Pendleton Bookshop Finds Home in Icon Hunter's Store

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

The Pendleton Bookshop is writing a new chapter for an old building.

Just across the street north of the Village Green, the shop is located in Hunter’s Store, an iconic Pendleton landmark for almost 175 years. Built in 1850 as a general store, the Hunter family bought it 1870 and the property passed through several generations of Hunter ownership, becoming known as simply "Hunter's Store." It was primarily a dry goods store, which sold everything from seeds to clothing to fresh eggs.

In 1929 a new building was constructed next door and opened that year as the new Hunter's Store, with the old building used for storage until the store ceased operation in 1962. After sitting vacant for six years, in 1968 the Tri-County Pendleton District Commission bought the old general store and used it since then as the commission's headquarters, including a local history and genealogical archives.

When Lake Hartwell Country moved the visitors’ center out of Hunter’s Store, still keeping archives and other historical artifacts stored in the building, the space was open until Amy Albright fulfilled her dream of opening an independent bookshop in Pendleton. The shop offers books in almost every category, and features events for local authors and other gatherings, and is open Thursday-Saturday 9 a.m.-6 p.m.