New owners uncover, preserve past of New Alex store
New Alexandria — Neil and Linda Eaglehouse were searching for a property where Linda could create works in stained glass while operating a retail outlet to serve the needs of others interested in the colorful art form.
When they set up shop last November in the former Dornon Store on New Alexandria’s Main Street, they found what they were looking for, and much more.
The Derry Township couple initially was attracted by the exterior of the three-story, 19th-century building — with its large, old-fashioned display windows and Second Empire styling.
Once inside, Linda was entranced by surviving features of the store that had welcomed generations of customers.
“It was the wood floors, the whole atmosphere,” she said. “We knew it’s always been a great store for the public, a place where people from the community gathered. We liked that.”
Dating from the late 1800s, the building at 411 W. Main St. originally was the home of Capt. John Maurer (1807-1870). Sometime before 1900, local merchant Robert A. Dornon moved his dry goods store and home there. It wasn’t far from his original location at 315 W. Main St. — where he’d called his business “The People’s Store,” advertising the “lowest price” for general merchandise as early as 1882.
Before being purchased by its current owners, Dornon’s second store most recently was a popular gift shop, The Country Mouse. It was operated by the previous owners, Suzanne Younker and her late husband, George, beginning in 1979.
