Kling’s Ends Long Run As Area Business

Off to the east of Route 12 in North Brookfield, Kling’s Mills has been an ongoing business since 1808.

What began as a grist mill that counted members of the Loomis Gang as its customers morphed over the years to include a hardware store, general store and a diner.

In the past years as shopping habits changed, Kling’s offered fewer groceries but kept the diner going.

This Sunday when the last cup of coffee is finished, the doors to Kling’s will close.

While owner Carol Beach said the building remains for sale, she and her family—four generations of Beaches—said the time has come for them to move on.

“It’s time to do something else besides get up at 4 every morning to be here,’’ Carol said.

Carol’s husband Alan, who passed away three years ago, was a second-generation of his family to run Kling’s.

His parents, Eugene and Gwen Beach, bought the place from Frances Kling, whose family established the grist mill alongside the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad tracks.

When Alan’s parents got older, Carol and Alan moved their young family to North Brookfield to help out.

They had been running a dairy farm in Camden.

“Farming is easier,’’ Carol said. ...