Posted date: May 17, 2020
by: Admin My Local Life
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In 1895, Deroy Danielson, Sr. established an implement and hardware store in St. Francis, Kansas. Originally from Bishop, Illinois, Deroy arrived in Cheyenne County from Clay Center, Kansas in 1887 with plans to be a cattle rancher. He quickly learned that the days of big cattle ranches were weaning with the rapid arrival of settlers.
With $200 in his pocket, he took the cattle train to Kansas City to buy inventory for his new store. He returned home with a train-car-load of merchandise and placed it in the small building he rented for $10 a year. Initially, the store had neither glass in the windows nor a lock on the door. Within a year, he made repairs and continued operating his business at that location for 25 years.
Around 1920, Mr. Danielson bought 4 lots directly across from his old store to build his new store. In 1922, he described his new store in the August 26 edition of The Merchants Journal.
"The new store is built in L-shape. I let the Citizens State Bank have 25x80 feet on the corner and I have built around the bank building. The store is 126 feet long with the L fronting east. The main front is south. There is a basement under the whole and it is steam heated. The fixtures are all modern Warren shelving. Scales, show cases and office fixtures are all new and modern. We have a rest room for ladies, furnished with rockers, desk, etc. The building is modern in every way and cost $25,000."
