D. & H. MacArthur’s shop

Photograph of D. & H. MacArthur’s shop in Scarinish at the beginning of the 20th century.

Courtesy of Mrs Flora MacKinnon

Situated in Scarinish close to the ferry terminal, D. & H. MacArthur’s was the main shop on the island. It comprised a general store, a Post Office and a hardware department upstairs. The MacArthur family lived on the top floor.

The lean-to structure on the left is Taigh an t-Sàil where preserving salt was stored. Salted meat or fish would be packed in large barrels similar to those in the foreground. The wicker baskets to the left of the main doorway were used to import pan loaves from Glasgow.

There was no running water in the building but a well and pump outside. In 1948 disaster struck when a fire which began in the back paraffin store destroyed the shop. A new Co-operative store was built on the same site.

Black and white photograph of D & H MacArthur`s general store in Scarinish taken in the 1930s.

Situated in Scarinish close to the ferry terminal, D & H MacArthur’s was the main shop on the island. It comprised a general store, a Post Office and a hardware department upstairs. The MacArthur family lived on the top floor. The lean-to structure on the left is Taigh an t-Sàil where preserving salt was stored. Salted meat or fish would be packed in large barrels similar to those in the foreground. The wicker baskets to the left of the main doorway were used to import pan loaves from Glasgow. The building burned down during World War II and a new Co-operative store built on the same site.