One of the oldest general stores in North Carolina has been in business for 190 years! That's easily anywhere from 6.3 to 9.5 generations if you figure a generation spans from 20 to 30 years. Washburn's General Store in North Carolina is a wonderful part of history. Let's explore one of the oldest general stores in North Carolina.

Welcome to Washburn's General Store in Bostic, located about 70 miles to the west of Charlotte and 70 miles to the east of Asheville.

Take a little day trip to travel back to a time when life was much simpler and delight in the wholesome experience of stepping into what just may be the oldest general store in the state.

According to one source, the business is known as the oldest continually run family-owned business in all of North Carolina, not just the oldest North Carolina general store.

It was begun back in 1831, 30 years before the start of the Civil War.

Step foot inside and get the old-timey notion that things are just different (and wonderful) in this out-of-the-way destination.

For starters, the toys are pretty great. You may even feel like you'd like to buy some for yourself, since you may have played with these classics yourself as a child.

The bonus here is that they are also all made in America.

You'll find amazing gift items for friends and family. If you have grandchildren, you can bet you won't leave here empty-handed!

But toys aren't all you'll find at Washburn's. The true role of a general store back in the day was to carry a little of everything.

It's easy to imagine that in it's first hundred years (or even longer), Washburn's would have furnished the community with many of the items needed to furnish and run a household, including clothing, tools, hardware, and groceries.

You'll still find plenty of hardware items, too! Today, you'll find many of these same necessities filling the shelves and displays.

And always a staff with a friendly smile and eagerness to help you find what you need. The store has just about everything, including a deli that'll make you one of the best sandwiches you've ever had!

Oh and when the snow flies... there's no better place to find the BEST assortment of sledding gear. You'll find the sled that best fits your size and needs. And then you'll be flying down the snow covered hills in North Carolina in no time.

Is there anything better than happening upon a historic general store while exploring the back roads of North Carolina? We think not!

Have you ever visited Washburn's General Store in North Carolina? Do you have any other favorite general stores in North Carolina? Let us know about them in the comments. Keep up on current updates on the Washburn's General Store page on Facebook. If you want to explore more interesting places like this, take one of these road trips around North Carolina:

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/north-carolina/7-best-nc-road-trips/