The Burton Store: a longtime cornerstone of the community

Sandy Mattara has been the longest-serving proprietor of the Burton Store.

By Bruce Haulman • November 20, 2018 1:30 am
Coy Meredith sits at a counter inside the Burton Store likely in the 1920s. (Photo courtesy of the Vashon-Maury Island Heritage Museum)
Coy Meredith sits at a counter inside the Burton Store likely in the 1920s. (Photo courtesy of the Vashon-Maury Island Heritage Museum)

This month, Sandy Mattara is leaving the Burton Store after 40 years and 10 months of ownership and is turning the store over to new owner Craig Pratt.

Mattara has been the longest-serving proprietor of the Burton Store, officially known as Harbor Mercantile. Coy Meredith, who owned the store for 21 years from 1924 to 1945, is the next longest-serving owner, and they both became fixtures of the Burton community during their long tenures at the store.

Howard Stone built the store in 1907, and it opened in 1908 as Burton Trading Company, operated by Dave Gammel. Burton was an important town on Vashon, with daily ferry service to Tacoma, a post office and numerous small businesses. It remained the major town on the island until automobiles, better roads and the north-end ferry dock led to Vashon taking over as the major commercial center in the decade following the opening of the store.

Dave Gammel operated the store for 7 years, followed by W.C. Whitfield’s 10- year ownership, Coy Meredith’s 21-year ownership, Rex Bowen’s 9-year ownership, Jack and Bertha Stephenson’s 11-year ownership, Judy and David Joseph’s two-year ownership, and Mattara’s over 40-year ownership.

The exterior of the store has been largely unchanged since it was built in 1907. In 1908-09, the shed roof extension on the backside of the building and the flat- roofed service station on the south side were added. In 1947 the flat roofed addition on the south side was extended the length of the building to create the cold storage area. The interior layout has seen the most dramatic changes, although the traditional general store aspect of the building has never changed.

When Mattara took over in 1977, she repainted the building, added shutters to the windows and installed the current scroll and sign. Pratt does not intend to make any changes to the store at this point, and we should expect that if he can be as successful as Sandy Mattara has been, he will become an equally important fixture of the Burton community — and the Burton Store will continue to serve as the community’s social center, just as it did under Mattara for the last 40 years.

— Bruce Haulman is an island historian.