Founders Crossing: Exploring with Antiques and Artisans
This weekend Country Fox explored Founders Crossing. Located in historic Bedford, PA, this building houses antiques and artisan crafted goods. After a delightful time shopping, we headed to a local eatery.
Founders Crossing
The building was constructed in the late 1800’s. Originally it was home to the Simon Oppenheimers Clothing Store. Through time it was home to a few businesses including a G.C. Murphy Company. It then sat vacant for a few years.
Sharon LeCrone saw the building for sale in 1992. She saw the potential that this building held. With dreams of a place for local craftsmen, artisans and antique sellers to come together, she started the ball rolling.
It wasn’t easy. Money was tight. In the fall of 1992, she opened her doors to 50 vendors during the Bedford Fall Foliage Festival. This was an advantageous move as the vendors had the luxury of leaving their booth set up between weekends unlike those out on the street. After the festival, she offered to handle the sales of artisans goods for a rental fee and commission.
Highs and Lows
While the years were filled with success and joy, there were struggles and loss too. Sharon married and had children. The business grew to fill three floors and a floor for artist’s studios by the 10th Anniversary. The sudden loss of her husband, Jack Payne, in 2004 and a devastating fire in 2007 marred the following years.
Finding a great internal strength, she raised her children alone and managed the business. A great outpouring of help from the artists, friends, family and community aided in the recovery from the fire. It partially reopened after only a month. It took a year before the building was back in order. Unfortunately, due to changes in building codes the second floor and up cannot be open to the public.
As Founders Crossing comes up on its 30th Anniversary, visitors can stop by a building that, like its owner, has survived the ups and downs. Sharon has since remarried. Her kids are now all grown. Through her had work, her business has thrived. The building has seen businesses come and go. It was nearly lost in a fire, but here it is after all these years, surviving. If you’re interested in visiting their website, go here.
Our Visit
Walking in the front doors, visitors are treated to a display of unique clothes, goods and hand crafted jewelry. There is a small Cafe to the right of the store. As well as other unique goods, used books, pillows etc.
The back left of the first level also has more artisan crafted goods. Antiques can be found hidden throughout these booths. Plenty of signs, statues and specialty decorations can be found.
All seasons mix elegantly to create a store where one can find gifts for all occasions. Summer, Fall, Spring and Winter can be found in all corners.
Founders Crossing Basement
Toward the front of the store are a set of stairs. These stairs lead shoppers to a labyrinth of booths on the basement level.
The basement level has a wide variety of items. Antiques and collectibles are found in almost every booth. There are less handcrafted items down there. Furniture, dolls, books, post cards, glass and china are all over.
A Lunch in History
After a delightful time in Founders Crossing we had worked up an appetite. The Pub at the Golden Eagle is one of Bedford’s oldest buildings. Built by Dr. John Anderson in 1794, it was the first brick building to be built in Bedford.
It has had several other names: The Pennsylvania House, the Farmers House and the National House. The building had been an inn till the 1960’s. At this point it became a private residence. During the 1990’s it was sold and restored to an Inn and Restaurant. The current owners purchased the Golden Eagle Inn in 2013. Visitors can stay in one of eleven guest rooms. The Pub at the Golden Eagle is located in the original Tavern space.
We each had a beer and a sandwich. I had a nice tart beer and Jason had a wonderful IPA. I had a Reuben and he had a General Tso’s Chicken Wrap. My Reuben was delightful, but Jason’s wrap was better. It had an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G sauce.
As usual the service was great, the food was filling and tasty. We had an enjoyable time.
Interested in keeping up with the Pub at the Golden Eagle? You can visit their Facebook page. If you are interested in another Antique Store located in a historic building visit my blog here.