| Newsom's Old Mill Store
& Col. Newsom's
Aged Kentucky Country Ham
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| An Open Air Market on the Sidewalk at Newsom's |
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| The Art of Tradition...Nature's Way Newsom's is a 2005 Kentucky Crafted Market participant |
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The Newsom Family opened a store in 1917. That original business, the Mill Store Stand, became the H.C. Newsom Store and today is Newsom’s Old Mill Store. Nancy’s grandfather, H.C. Newsom, sold everything from glassware to pickles. Fresh cream was available daily. There were country meats, goldfish at one time and, of course, crackers in barrels.
“The Garden Seed and Plants Man,” Hosea Newsom took pride in customer service. When he died, his son Bill, just 18, took over the store. Colonel Bill Newsom preserved Hosea’s tradition of “good service,” and quality products.
Bill's daughter Nancy joined the business in 1980. She worked beside her father, eventually becoming manager and now is owner-operator of the business that includes the Old Mill Store and production of Col. Bill Newsom’s Aged Kentucky Country Hams.
In 1975, the late James Beard, a internationally renowned chef and author, stumbled upon COLONEL NEWSOM’S COUNTRY HAMS tucked away in the Kentucky hills. He wrote about the ham in his syndicated gourmet reviews and the word was out. Newsom's aged hams have been “discovered” by many chefs and recommended year after year by noted food editors in Women’s Day, Food & Wine, The Wine Spectator, New York Times, Gourmet Digest, True Grits, Chow, Esquire and many others.
With mail order ham sales, requests have grown for country products that satisfy gourmet appetites.
Bulk garden seed, plants, produce, preserves, relishes, sorghum, salad dressings, smoked meats and aged country hams are sold across the same counter of the fresh cream, pickles and cracker barrels of old.
Built in approximately 1850, during the time of the nation’s industrial revolution, the present Newsom’s Old Mill Store was the site of a woolen mill, established by an individual named Myers. The factory produced items made from sheep’s wool of the area. The woolens produced in this early mill were a "jeans" material that was used to make Civil War uniforms. Later, the factory became Princeton Roller Mills, in production about 1867-1880. Red Rose Flour, premium grade, and cheaper grades were produced round the clock by machinery duplicating the Hungarian Roller process. Yes, a 24-hour operation it was, turning out 100 barrels of flour a day, an important income source for the area.
Construction of the towering 3-story building was painstaking in itself. Exterior masonry walls, estimated at 13-15 inches thick, surround a maze of rough, hand-sawn, solid oak. Long beams constructed from huge trees support each floor in beam fashion.
The attached Old Globe Tavern was built in 1834 and was a stagecoach stop, on a 90-mile route, operating three times a week. It was also the site for the posting of a single-sheeted newspaper....the only posting in town. Upstairs in the Tavern building were sleeping quarters to house weary travelers who wished to rest or enjoy the tavern below for the evening.
The original site for the three-generation family business is located town side of the tavern building and was the site of H.C. Newsom Store.
Established in 1917, the family business began its long journey through survival to many evolutionary changes in the business world. In 1987, the business was moved from its old location after a devastating fire, and resumed the famed Newsom’s Ham business and Newsom’s Old Mill Store.
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