The property at 10 Westminster Street occupies part of what was once the Village Tavern lot, a lively commercial block that evolved continually as Walpole’s needs changed. In 1842, Aaron P. Howland sold the property to merchants William C. Sherman (1807–1884) and Amherst K. Maynard (1821–1884). Only a few years later, in 1851, Sherman sold his interest to Maynard, who transformed the building into a boot and shoe establishment. Maynard’s shop was typical of mid-nineteenth-century village manufacturing: the salesroom was on the ground floor, while the stock was produced upstairs, making the building both a workshop and a storefront. Maynard’s declining health forced him to liquidate his business in 1873.
A fire in 1877 marked a turning point in the building’s commercial life. After the fire, George F. Chandler and Fred A. Lebourveau (1854-1934) opened a meat market, reflecting the rise of specialized food shops in small towns during this period. By 1879, the building had shifted uses again, becoming a furniture store, with an oyster saloon in the basement.
Under John C. Howard, who purchased the property after 1885, the building continued to diversify. A dancing hall operated on the upper floor, while the ground floor hosted a drug store between 1894 and 1898. Through the early twentieth-century the storefronts continued to change: during the 1920s, the building housed a jewelry shop, followed later by the Peck Drug Store, remembered by many longtime residents.
In the modern era, the property was acquired by The Walpole Foundation, ensuring its continued use in support of the village center. In honor of the benefactor who helped finance the restoration, the building bears a plaque identifying it as the “Leslie S. Hubbard Block.” The ground floor is now home to Rancho Viejo, a Mexican restaurant, while the upper stories provide rental apartments, continuing the building’s long tradition of flexible, mixed-use commercial life.
Aaron Howland House 