In 1867, the Napa Valley Railroad opened a depot in the community of Oakville. Soon, Oakville had a blacksmith shop, a barber shop, a saloon and two vineyards (H. W. Crabb, eventually renamed Tokalon and Brun and Chaix).

In 1881, James and Jennie McQuaid opened Oakville Mercantile. The Napa County Reporter advertised: "Oakville Station - Where James McQuaid officiates as Railroad agent, Postmaster and Wells, Fargo and Company's agent, also dispensing at a reasonable figure, all kinds of general merchandise to people of the vicinity, from a calico dress to a keg of tenpenny nails."

On July 4, 1893, when a fire destroyed much of the commercial district, Oakville Mercantile sustained only minor damage.

In he following years, ownership changed several times.

Between 1912 and 1921, when the economy of the Oakville area stagnated and many businesses failed, Oakville Mercantile became even more successful and important to its community.

In 1921, Frederick Durant remodeled Oakville Mercantile. For the next two decades, it was the sole provider of essential supplies for house and farm as well as the community's lifeline to the outside world in the form of telegraph, telephone and mail.

When Frederick Durant died in 1944, his widow Mary Durant sold the business to Everett A. Guigni.

In the early 1970s after operating Oakville Mercantile for nearly thirty years, the Guigni family sold Oakville Mercantile to a partnership based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The new owners renamed the store Oakville Grocery, purveyors of wine and gourmet food.

Source: Adapted from the 1993 NRHP nomination and from an article in the Napa Valley Register, 2 June 2011.

In January 2012, Oakville Grocery was closed for a five-month renovation.