A walk through time…
The building the Cafe & Country Store now occupy was built in the mid 1800s. John Hemenway Trask and Artemas Cushman owned and operated this site known at the time as The Trask Block. Trask’s Store was noted for the wide variety of stock, from yard goods to clothing, from hardware to groceries and much more.
Other enterprises in the building through the years include a room for carding wool, a drug store, ice cream parlor, granary, bank, Town Library, dentist office, beauty parlor, pool room, barber shop, funeral parlor, apartments, video shop and The Cafe.
After the Great Depression this landmark began building it’s reputation as a great gathering place for Rochester residents and visitors.
Around 1930 Veron Lyon opened Lyon’s Pharmacy in the space that now holds the Country Store. In 1941 Veron Lyon invested in a soda fountain from Liquid Carbonic Company for about three thousand dollars. Soon the pharmacy became known as Lyon’s Drugstore and hosted many locals and visitors, including Robert Frost, who would stop by the soda fountain to cool off on hot days.
During the 1970’s, Esther Hunt continued the soda fountain tradition while owning and operating the space under the name Hunt’s Variety Store. The building that is now our cafe kitchen and dining area was renovated around 1983 by a pair of well known and loved locals, Tim Crowley and Vince, who went on to run the Cafe! The drawing you see here was commissioned by Tim Crowley to pay tribute to the many loyal customers. Tim and Vince were the birthparents of what we all know as The Cafe today; bringing light to the concept and creating a space for all to gather over a good bite to eat. Folks danced in the middle of route 100 with pure joy!
From 1991 to 2020 The Rochester Cafe was owned and operated by the Domas family. The Domas’ are responsible for so much at The Rochester Cafe. A few of the delicious menu items we still serve today came from Tims culinary creativeness. The entire Domas family sacrificed so very much over their 30 years keeping this local gem up and running. They will always be a significant part of keeping The Rochester Cafes history alive along Route 100.
In October of 2020 the Domas family passed the Cafe Torch to new owners who teamed up with locals, Stephanie and Dane Lary. The Lary’s had just moved back to Vermont from living on the outskirts of Washington, DC; a move their family of 4 had made just before Covid exploded. Upon returning to Vermont and committing to manage and run The Rochester Cafe, the Lary’s and the Landis family got to work on what would soon be the biggest adventure any of them could imagine.
Covid, severe staffing shortages, supply chain issues, inflation and many other hurdles have tried to close the doors on The Rochester Cafe, in just the last 48 months! But we are still standing tall and look forward to feeding our community, near and far, for another 30 years to come.
While visiting the the Cafe & Country Store today, you can witness the history of our building all while making new memories of your own.