Kaffie-Frederick General Mercantile

Abraham Kaffie, a Jewish immigrant, opened a general store on Front Street in 1863. The Civil War had not ended. Natchitoches itself would soon face Union torches — retreating federal soldiers set the town ablaze after a failed attempt to capture Shreveport, and Confederate cavalry arrived in time to help extinguish the flames before the town was destroyed. The store survived. Six generations later, the same family still owns it. It is the oldest continuously operating general store in Louisiana. The 1917 cash register still sits on the counter. The elevator still runs between floors. The pressed-tin ceilings remain. The hardwood floors remain. The rolling library ladders remain. The shelves hold cast iron, pocket knives, local honey, hand tools, and an improbable range of practical goods most hardware stores stopped carrying decades ago. Natchitoches was established in 1714 as a French outpost on the Red River — the oldest permanent settlement within the Louisiana Purchase. When the river shifted course and bypassed the town, it cut off the lucrative connection to the Mississippi. The 33-mile oxbow lake left behind became Cane River Lake. By the early 1970s, the town's businesses were declining and buildings were boarded up. What endured was places like this: a store that kept its doors open through a war, a river's betrayal, and a century of reasons to close. Open Monday through Saturday, eight to five. Free to browse. Front Street, Historic District.