We are not your ordinary grocery store

In the late 1800's the original village of Lincoln was located on land homesteaded by George Miller. He built a two bedroom cabin to live in. Charley Mathews built a small building next to the cabin which was the first store in Lincoln. In the back of the small store was also the first saloon.

In 1919 Len Lambkin purchased the Lincoln property and leased the store to his in-laws Paul and Elsie Didriksen. The store was known as Lincoln Mercantile. Paul became the Post Master of Lincoln as the post office was also located in the store. The store was very small so Paul added 100 feet of space to the store. They handled most general merchandise but not meat as the store had no refrigeration accept for ice they had put away during the past winter. In the fall Paul would drive his hard rubber tire truck to Helena to stock the store as full as he could get it with cases of groceries, flour and other supplies as Lincoln was snowed in from November to late Spring. At first they did not carry bread as the large bakeries did not want to pay for freight. Eventually the bakeries gave in and would ship over the mountains to Lincoln. The Didriksens had to get their personal milk from dairy cows at the hotel as everyone in the valley had to get their own milk. Paul served the community until his death in 1936 at the young age of 47. Elsie took the Civil Service exam and became the next post master after her husband's death. She worked in the store as a clerk and post master till 1949 when her son Bob took over the business. The name changed then to Bob's IGA.