Union Hall General Store in North Salem…

On a recent Saturday, I took my kids down to Union Hall General Store in North Salem. I bribed them with the promise of candies at the recently opened store, knowing full well that our trip would also include a visit to nearby Balanced Rock.

The General Store is located at 2 Keeler Lane in North Salem. Its namesake, Union Hall, is the name of the building it is located in, which was built in 1865 (or 1848, depending on the source) and served various functions over the years, including as a meeting hall. The current general store opened in late 2012.

Stairs snake up from the parking area to the front of the building. The store has a beautiful, large, multi-paned window, and a wide wooden porch.

It’s a neat place, obviously catering to those with refined tastes. Specialty foods and local fare line the shelves, mixed with a healthy dose of imported goods. The kids enjoyed the bin of “five candies for a dollar”. (And as we sat chewing on gummy fish and fruit candies, I made sure I kept their sugar-sticky hands away from the $1,000 artwork on the wall behind them.)

Once the candies were gone, we walked down a small, grassy hill behind the building to a bench alongside a small stream. A horse trail cuts across the back of the property.

After the General Store, we headed to the (very) nearby Balanced Rock, just a short distance to the south of the general store.

As of this writing, the store’s website, www.unionhallgeneralstore.com, is under construction. The store phone number is 914/485-1550.