Nevins Hardware Then and Now

305-307 W Chestnut Street – Dodge City, Kansas

In Dodge City’s earliest days, what became Chestnut Street was just an alley behind the Front Street buildings. Business was conducted within close proximity to the Santa Fe depot so the block between Second and Third Avenues took a while to fill with structures. Aside from the post office at the northwest corner of Second and Front, that block held a saddle and harness shop, a blacksmith shop, and a dance hall.

One of the challenges with documenting establishments is attempting to decipher what people meant when they used descriptions like “One Door West of the Post Office.”

Typos happen and also how many empty lots were located between the doors?

Buildings came and went and so did the businesses.

Without being too precious, I can tell you Jacob and Jennie Collar ended up owning lots 46 and 48 west of the first post office. They owned several lots on Front Street and leased the buildings to a variety of businesses.

In March of 1884, brothers James and William Keady and Bro opened a grocery and produce business one door west of the post office.

That October, the grocery temporarily relocated and the Collars replaced the small wood structure with a single-story brick building with two spacious storefronts and a tiny one between them.

After the Keadys moved to the new brick, Joseph Felkel used a corner of the space for his shoe shop. Adolphus Gluck also used part of the building for his jewelry store. I won’t bore you with the musical chairs which transpired from then until Jacob Collar’s death in March of 1893. Jennie retained ownership of the brick building, which she leased to a barber, a grocer, and a furniture dealer.

After Jennie Collar died in January of 1899, her sister, Fannie Goodman, inherited the property. Adolphus Gluck was chosen to administer the estate and it took him a few years to dispose of the various properties. As this was taking place, William A Sturgeon bought the Keady grocery store in October of 1902 and it became known as Sturgeon’s Cash Grocery.

The following spring, William and his father, Frank, bought the building from Fannie Goodman for $3,000. Other tenants at that time were the C. H. Gingrich cigar factory and the C. L. Peterson tailoring business. The north ends of the lots along Chestnut were empty.

Frank Sturgeon intended to construct a two-story brick building along Chestnut and then add another story to the Front Street side but he died in November of 1904 at only 58 years of age. In June of 1906, William Sturgeon sold the grocery to brothers Roy and Ralph Burnett.

J. F. Ayers moved his Central Meat Market to the space west of the Burnett grocery in the Spring of 1912.

Ralph Burnett bought his brother’s share of the business in January of 1913. The building is shown here west of City Hardware with the Chestnut Street portion still empty.

Around that time, the skinny middle space was occupied by the general repair shop of John E Reynolds.

Hiram A Burnett, President of the National Bank of Commerce, began construction to fill in the space between his son’s grocery and Chestnut Street in the Spring of 1915. This would allow Ralph to expand his store and have additional space to lease in the west half of the building. Initially planned as a single-story extension, Burnett saw improvements the Nevins family was making to their new hardware store next door to the west and decided to match them. Main entrances would be on Chestnut but the Front Street doors would be retained. The Front Street section also remained a single-story structure.

Newt and Martha Nevins opened their Dodge City location of Nevins Hardware Company at 309 Chestnut on April 30, 1915 with hundreds in attendance. Initially, son Clarence managed the store in Ford, while Ralph and Arthur worked at the Dodge City store with their dad. Daughter Eulalia was the county education superintendent by that time but she was never far from the store, eventually serving as secretary and treasurer. Clarence came to Dodge about a year later to become the general manager of the Nevins Hardware and Implement Company.

Ralph Burnett held a grand opening at his expanded store on July 31, 1915.

Happy Jack BeDillion then opened his Popular Cafe in the west half on August 8. The move to larger quarters allowed space for confectionery and ice cream departments as well as a cigar section.

The Burnett grocery and Popular Cafe used similar typefaces in their clerestory signage on the right.

The original Burnett space on Front Street was remodeled and occupied by Dodge City Plumbing Co. in the fall of 1916.

That December, brothers Leo and Wilbur Liggett bought the Burnett grocery.

At that time, John McChristy operated a grocery at 306 Front. Brothers Harry and Jesse Holmes bought the Popular Cafe and moved it a couple blocks east in February of 1919. Flora Burgland then used the former cafe for her millinery store.

The Nevins Hardware Company needed additional storage space and bought the Burnett building in September of 1920 for around $30,000. At that time, the tenants were allowed to stay. This postcard with a postmark of March 29, 1923 shows the Liggett’s and Burgland signage at far right.

The Burgland millinery store became the Sturgeon Hat Shop around the Spring of 1926.

The plumbing shop became the Cozy Cafe.

Tasker Book and Stationery Shop temporarily used the west space on Chestnut in the latter part of 1928.

Big changes were made around 1929. Suddenly, the Front Street side was a proper two-story building.

After an extensive remodeling project, what was then called Skaggs Safeway held a grand opening on October 18, 1929.

The Safeway store is shown here during the parade celebrating the premiere of Dodge City on April 1, 1939.

Safeway closed around 1940 and Nevins Hardware moved next door into the much larger space. By this time, the implement and hardware businesses had split with Arthur taking on the implement side and Ralph operating the hardware store.

Nevins Hardware is shown here during the 1950s with Fowler Furniture in their former location to the west.

This is the view looking east.

I know I’ve seen a photo of the full Nevins Hardware sign painted on the east wall of the Front Street side but of course, I can’t find it when I need it.

The Eckles family bought the store in February of 1963 and it was renamed Eckles Hardware. This photo was taken when Fowler Furniture caught fire in 1964.

It operated until at least 1967 but the entire block was doomed by the infamous Urban Renewal project. Not everything went to waste, however. Building materials and fixtures were salvaged and sold. In his book, Dragging Wyatt Earp: A Personal History of Dodge City, Robert Rebein tells the story of his father buying the glass door from Nevins Hardware and using it as the back door of their home at 1211 W Cedar Street. By 1970, all of Front Street had been completely erased.

Here’s a full view of the old hardware signs with Nevins painted over just prior to demolition.

This is how the former site of Nevins Hardware looks today:

Rather than repeatedly harping on the negative effects of Urban Renewal, I feel I should acknowledge the extent to which I torment the fine folks at the Kansas Heritage Center with my exhaustive inquiries. Thanks for all of your help!

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