This store was built in 1881 and opened as a branch of Pearce Brothers main store which was further along in Main Street, Bacchus Marsh. The store in this image opened around early June 1881 and was described in the Bacchus Marsh Express as "quite above the usual standard of stores in towns of a similar or even much larger size. The building is most substantially built of brick, and measures 58 feet by 26 feet, with walls fourteen feet high inside. The interior is most elaborately fitted with shelves and glass cases covering both side walls and two ends formed by small offices separated from the main store by glass and wood panelled partitions, with a passage way between to the storeroom at the rear", Express, (Bacchus Marsh, 11 June, 1881, page 2). The building was designed by one of its proprietors T. G. Pearce and was entirely constructed by local contractors and workers.Small sepia unframed photograph on card with gold border framing photograph. Housed in the album, 'Photographs of Bacchus Marsh and District in 1883 by Stevenson and McNicoll'. The image depicts a general store with a double-front of windows. Goods such as spades, shovels, tubs and wringers are arrayed on the footpath in front of the store. At the front of the shop under a verandah stands a man, possibly one of the Pearce brothers who owned this business. Next to the store is a vacant block of land with a white picket fence. A sign erected above the fence advertises: “ Pearce Bros. Chaff. Hay & Oats. Produce. Dealer. “On the front: Stevenson & McNicoll. Photo. 108 Elizabeth St. Melbourne. COPIES CAN BE OBTAINED AT ANY TIME. On the back: LIGHT & TRUTH inscribed on a banner surmounted by a representation of the rising sun. Copies of this Portrait can be had at any time by sending the Name and Post Office Money Order or Stamps for the amount of order to STEVENSON & McNICOLL LATE BENSON & STEVENSON, Photographers. 108 Elizabeth Street, MELBOURNE. pearce family bacchus marsh, general stores bacchus marsh, shops bacchus marsh, pearce brothers general store bacchus marsh, stevenson and mcnicoll 1883 photographs of bacchus marsh and district