G. W. Smith, w
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bought out the J. C. Perkins store, arrived in 1870. In 1876 Ben Drake bought out the store of George W. Mason. Asa Sonnett operated a steam saw mill. David Briley was the town blacksmith and H. C. Dickey was the wagon maker. Enock Cleaveland and Julius Hardt ran hotels. Good Templers Lodge was established in 1874. Harriet Smith, widow of G. W. Smith, ran the store which was later sold to E. A. Conover in about 1888. He operated the store until his death in 1931. Mrs. Conover, with the help of her son, Bonnie L. Conover, continued the store. She passed away in 1937 and the Conover twins, Eugene and Bonnie, ran the store until it was closed in 1954. Eugene was the husband of the former Louise Styner, an early teacher in Maple Plain. He served as Maple Plain village clerk for seventeen years and the village council meetings were held in the store. Before the railroad tracks were lowered because of the grade, the depot was across from Conover's store. The first Northwestern Bell telephone was installed in their store in a wooden booth in 1897 and people from the area came there to use the telephone.
