Van Pickerill Hardware

Van Pickerill Hardware View all images of Van Pickerill Hardware

a.k.a. Sears, Roebuck and Company Building

a.k.a. McCurdy Hardware

Quick Timeline

1920	built for hardware store and engine showroom
1925	became sears roebuck
1937	Addition along 4th st

Location

Architecture

History

Comments

built 1920 for mumford hardware hardware concern and engine showroom 7/4/20ej +pic construction 9/11/20ej and 9/14/20ej +pic 10/6/20ep +sketch van pickerill hardware opened oct 1920 founded 1840s as clifford hardware renamed mumford hardware feb 1921 after W B Mumford became company president on the former site of the old Coliseum claimed "most modern and efficiently arranged hardware store in the United States" claimed capable of 8 more stories sometimes shortened Van Pico

1925 became first retail outlet ever for sears-roebuck 1925 (independent of catalog operation) the reinforced concrete structure was designed by w e russ of indy with gilber karges of evv as associate

1937 addition along 4th st (2 stories) later 2 stories added to make entire building same heighth In 1937, Sears built an addition along 4th street (101-111 NW 4th)

After Sears expanded to other locations, the Downtown store closed in 1975

in 1992-3 old national bancorp renovated this building bringing back the char that had been lost through modifications http://local.evpl.org/views/viewimage.asp?ID=957494

The handsome brick building at the intersection of Fourth and Sycamore streets was photographed as it neared completion in 1920. Now a familiar downtown landmark, it was named after its builder, Col. William H. McCurdy, and functioned as a hardware store until 1925, when Sears, Roebuck & Co. selected Evansville as the site of its first free-standing retail store in the nation. The new business opened on Oct. 5, 1925, luring customers for decades with its dazzling array of products and lavishly decorated window displays; the company even constructed a theater on the building´s rooftop in 1935.

See also

Research notes

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