Remember The Milk Shed? The place where you could “Make your own ice cream sundae”? In the 1970s, it was as popular with summer visitors to Wiscasset as the famous Red’s Eats is now.

The Milk Shed has been closed for over 30 years. It sits alongside the Stacy House on Federal Street. For some, seeing the building brings back fond memories. For others, it remains a curiosity. To learn more, we turn the calendar back to July 1979 and a Wiscasset Newspaper article, one of the first I wrote. Velma Sutter was the editor then. The story was part of a summer series, “Discover Wiscasset.”

“Did you know that an ice cream sundae could be a work of art?” That’s how the story begins, going on to tell a little about the ice cream parlor’s beginning.

Fred and Lois Hart of Wiscasset opened The Milk Shed. The Harts were a well-known, active couple in the community. For many years, they owned the Stacy House, which once had been a hotel called the Wiscasset Inn.

After the Harts purchased the building, they remodeled inside and out. They reserved the top floor to live in, and leased the lower floors to several businesses.

One store on the building’s Middle Street street-side was the Dodge Inn Gift Shop, operated by Velma Dodge of Edgecomb. She and her husband Stan had once owned the Dodge Inn on Davis Island. Lois Hart owned and operated a woman’s apparel store called The Inn Shop. For a time, the second floor had a dentist, Dr. Robert Balla, and an architect.

The diminutive building that became The Milk Shed was originally attached to the inn. During the renovations, Hart had it carefully removed and carried to where it now sits. He added a small kitchen along with a counter and tables. Some old milk barrels were added as decor. The Harts named their ice cream parlor The Milk Shed. Ice cream cones, sundaes and sodas were the featured menu items, although sandwiches, salads and soft drinks were sold as well.

The Harts ran the business until the spring of 1977 and then leased it to Elliott and Barbara Cox of Edgecomb. The Coxes were featured in the newspaper story that included their picture standing in the doorway. Barbara Cox is quoted as saying The Milk Shed was celebrating its 10th anniversary that summer, which suggested it first opened in the summer of 1969.

The Coxes sold 19 flavors of ice cream. Along with the traditional chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, they offered heavenly hash, almond crunch, peppermint stick and rum raisin. There were almost as many toppings as ice cream flavors for customers wanting to make their own sundaes. Included were: caramel, hot fudge, chocolate, butterscotch, marshmallow, nuts, pineapple, strawberries, cherries and jimmies. The Milk Shed was open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Coxes were an older couple; they operated The Milk Shed for three seasons, introducing hot sandwiches to the menu and colorful umbrella seating on the lawn. After the couple retired, The Milk Shed remained vacant for a season or two.

The next tenants were another local couple, Anita and Harry Green of Churchill Street. Their tenure lasted one or maybe two seasons. After the Greens left in the early 1980s, The Milk Shed closed for good. The Harts, as I recall, tried finding another tenant but found no takers. Maybe the novelty of making your own sundae had run its course.

There were also a number of other, more visible businesses selling ice cream on Main Street. The Milk Shed, located between Federal and Middle streets, was just a bit off the beaten path.