File photo by Clay Schuldt Monica and Lance Sorensen of Hector try a cup of egg coffee as Harkin Store as manager Ruth Grewe describes the history of the store in this May 15, 2019, file photo. The store was shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic and has not re-opened.

WEST NEWTON TOWNSHIP — The status of the Harkin Store on Nicollet County Road 21, nine miles northwest of New Ulm, remains to be determined, according to Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) and Nicollet County officials.

The historical store dates back to 1867, when pioneer Alexander Harkin opened the hardware store and post office. It was the social and economic center of the bustling town of West Newton.

Managed by the Nicollet County Historical Society (NCHS) in collaboration with the MHS, the site closed in 2020 due to the pandemic and has not reopened.

A sign on the front door states the site is temporarily closed. For the safety of staff and visitors, Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) historic sites and museums remain closed.

Kayla Stielow, MHS partnership sites manager, posted on Facebook March 24 in response to a question about the possible reopening of the store.

“We do not have an official update or statement at this time in regards to the Harkin Store,” Stielow said. “Currently, there are multiple conversations about the Harkin Store occurring. When we have an update on the status of the Harkin Store in the coming weeks, we will share any information.”

She stated the site has active maintenance, security and lawn care/snow removal personnel.

Nicollet County Commissioner John Luepke said he has been asked about the status of the site, and discussions involving the NCHS, MHS, and Brown County Historical Society are planned soon.”My goal is to get the BCHS and city of New Ulm more involved,” Luepke said. “Based on its location, most people that go see it will likely spend money in New Ulm.”

Site manager Ruth Grewe told The Journal in May 2019 when the site opened for the season that people unfamiliar with the store location call and ask for directions.

Grewe said a couple from Germany visited the store while touring the United States. She said the couple’s other stops were Mayo Clinic, Black Hills, Grand Canyon and the St. Louis Gateway Arch.

Area residents say they feel like they’re taken back in time by visiting the store, with its hard candy, fabrics, storage vessels, chinaware, cooking utensils, medicine and other items.

Costumed guides host programs most summer Sundays. Visitors can sit on the front porch and look out above the Minnesota River.

A variety of programs are featured including musicians, a musical roundup at the end of each season, children’s spelling bees, trunk displays showing what riverboat travel was like many decades ago and dress reviews, including fashions as far back as the 1870s.

West Newton grew quickly 150 years ago. It included a hotel, livery stable, brewery, sawmill, wagon works, two blacksmith shops, three saloons and many homes.

A number of things doomed the store and West Newton. The railroad bypassed West Newton in 1873 in favor of New Ulm. For four consecutive years, locusts devasted Minnesota crops and gardens.

In order to bring new economic life to West Newton, Harkin helped farmers organize a ginseng trade. Ginseng roots, highly prized by the Chinese, grew wild in wooded areas of southern Minnesota, according to an MHS account. Harkin’s effort helped many farmers make it through the plague.

The addition of rural free delivery in 1901 replaced the store/post office, and it soon closed.

Harkin’s granddaughter Janet Harkin Massopust, reopened the store as a museum in 1938. The MHS bought the store in 1973 and restored its 1870 appearance.