Cambridge Arts and Antiques
If you’ve strolled down the main street in Cambridge lately, you may have stopped in and visited some of our local businesses many of which are housed in historic buildings. One of those being, “The Art and Antique Shop,” owned and operated by Nina Hawkins. This story is as much about the shop and its owner as it is about the building that it’s located in.
The building was built in 1908 with a brick exterior and a similar façade to other buildings in town. It has housed many businesses over the years, but is best known as Lorton’s Drug store. William Lorton and his wife Mary Ann were early pioneers from Missouri who came by covered wagon to settle in Long Valley, Idaho in the early 1880’s. William was 61 years old and Mary Ann ten years younger. They brought with them three of their children, Louisa, Edward and Joe. Due to the harshness of the winters in Long Valley, they decided to buy a place in Salubria to spend the winter months which later became their permanent home. They kept the homestead in Long Valley and spent summers there well into William’s old age. Interesting enough, that homestead is now beneath the Cascade reservoir.
Many of Salubria’s residents picked up and moved the three miles to Cambridge when the railroad arrived in the valley in 1900. William, Mary Ann and their son’s built the two story house that still sits on the corner of Highway 71 and 1st Street. Some people remember it as the tulip house because of the hundreds of tulips planted in the front yard. There is a picture of tulips that still hangs on the wall in the main room that has been passed from one owner to the next down through the years. William lived to be 94 and died in 1922. Mary Ann lived to be 84 and died in 1920. They are both buried in the Cambridge Cemetery.
Oldest son Edward became a teacher and later purchased a drug store from his cousin Eugene at Salubria which he later moved to Cambridge. Edward felt the community could be better served by a licensed Pharmacist and so he returned to Missouri to attend Saint Louis College of Pharmacy in 1901. While he was away, he left his younger brother Joe in charge of the drug store in his absence. After Edward retuned to Idaho, Joe then went to the same school in Missouri and returned in 1904 with his pharmacy degree to work with his brother. Edward later sold the drug store to Joe in 1914 and bought a pear orchard in Medford, Oregon where he lived out the remainder of his life.
Joe married a striking young teacher named Mary in 1908 and they spent the next several decades running the drug store and serving the community. Joe bought the Shepherd building, now Nina’s shop, where he operated his drug store for many years. They had two sons, Wilfred and Clare, and later adopted an infant daughter Alice. Both Clare and Alice followed in their father’s footsteps and became Pharmacists. Both Joe and Mary loved living in Cambridge and were very involved in the community. Many times Joe dispensed a drug knowing he wasn’t going to get paid for it but that the individual needed the medication. His son Clare carried on the family business until the 1950’s. The Lorton Drug store was part of the landscape of the town of Cambridge for over 50 years.
That brings us to the present and Nina’s business in the same building. Although it’s true the building has changed hands several times and the businesses have come and gone. Nina has created a unique shop selling her beautiful artwork, antiques and books. Nina spent her working life as a teacher and later librarian and moved around a lot. She describes herself as, “A restless soul and liking change.” She taught art, photography and ran the library programs at both the Midvale and Cambridge schools. I asked her what her favorite part of teaching was and she said, “The kids become your kids and you make the world come alive for them and that’s exciting!” She also worked at the Veterans Administration Library in Boise where she managed the audio visual collection and the Ada Community Library, also in Boise. Her final job was at the Cambridge Community Library for a number of years, before retiring.
In Nina’s Art and Antique Shop you will find a collection of eclectic items from the past from children’s toys, furniture, household items, old tools and her amazing collection of paintings in both oil and watercolor. She also has a lovely reading corner to sit and browse through her books. The shop is a reflection of her personality and combines her love of art, photography, history and books. She is a big supporter of the library and its programs and offers free painting classes in the fall and winter at the Library. She welcomes visitors to her shop to pull up a chair and have a conversation when her business is open on Friday and Saturdays from 12-6. Nina Hawkins is continuing to offer a valuable service to the community, just like the Lorton family of long ago did in their time.
