B. R. Brown general store (later Dempsey Brothers), built by Joseph Shepard in 1860

Lot 16, Con. 1 West. Built in 1860 on the northwest corner of Sheppard Avenue and Yonge Street as a store and residence for Joseph Shepard II (1815-1899). The store became the site of the first Lansing Post Office in 1866, and the living quarters included a parlour, a dining room and a kitchen on the main floor and six bedrooms upstairs for Joseph, wife Elizabeth and their six children. In 1888, the Shepards leased the building to Benjamin R. Brown (1861-1939) who bought the business and the site in 1904. He was the postmaster at Lansing from 1888 to 1921. The next store owners were brothers George and William (Bill) Dempsey, who took over the business in 1921 and purchased the site in 1923. It was later taken over by George?s sons Bob and Jim, and remained within the Dempsey family until 1989.