Gassaway sits along the Elk River in Braxton County, a part of central West Virginia better known to most outsiders for the legend of the Flatwoods Monster than for its shopping, but locals have long known 714 Elk Street as the home of The Treasure Trove. The shop takes an everything-goes approach to its inventory, stocking antiques, used books, collectible coins, general collectibles, primitive farmhouse-style pieces, West Virginia-themed items, and handmade crafts made by regional artisans, all under one roof. That range means the shop pulls in a wider mix of customers than a typical single-category antique store, from serious coin collectors hunting for a specific denomination to gift shoppers looking for something distinctly West Virginia-made to take home or send to family out of state.
The handmade crafts section is worth calling out specifically, since it sets The Treasure Trove apart from shops that deal exclusively in secondhand and estate goods. By carrying work from West Virginia crafters alongside its antiques and collectibles, the shop functions partly as a small showcase for regional makers, giving local artisans a retail outlet in a county where dedicated craft galleries are scarce. That combination of old and new, secondhand and handmade, is part of what keeps regulars coming back, since a single visit might turn up a vintage kitchen tool, a stack of used paperbacks, a jar of local honey or a piece of folk art, and a handful of older coins worth a second look, all in the same afternoon.
Braxton County’s own character shows up in the shop’s inventory too. Books and primitives with a distinctly rural, central Appalachian feel move through regularly, and the county’s identity as a rural crossroads community, promoted locally through Braxton County tourism efforts, means The Treasure Trove often ends up as a stop for visitors who came to the area for the Flatwoods Monster festival or other regional events and decided to poke around downtown Gassaway while they were in town. For collectors specifically hunting coins or antiques, the shop’s broad category list means a phone call ahead, at 304-364-4040, is worth the effort to confirm whether a particular type of item is currently in stock, since turnover on any single category can be unpredictable in a shop that restocks from so many different sources.
The Treasure Trove keeps a limited but dependable schedule, open Monday and Thursday from 9 in the morning to 5 in the evening and Friday from 9 until 3, hours that reflect the realities of running a small-town shop rather than a mall storefront with staff on a rotating shift. Visitors planning a trip to Gassaway or the wider Braxton County area should build those specific days into their itinerary rather than assuming a standard six-day retail schedule, since showing up on an off day means missing the shop entirely. For anyone exploring central West Virginia’s small-town antique scene, that limited window is a small price to pay for a shop that manages to combine antiques, books, coins, primitives, and local handmade crafts into one distinctly Braxton County stop. The Treasure Trove in Gassaway, West Virginia is a multi-category antique, book, coin, and craft shop on Elk Street that gives central West Virginia collectors and gift shoppers a single stop for both secondhand treasures and handmade regional goods.
