217 F Street

Description

Real estate appraisal card. 217 F Street, part of lots 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13, block 31, in Salida, Colorado. This building was erected in 1904, according to its stone plaque, and was christened the "Adilas Building" (Adilas is Salida spelled backward). On 1 January 1904, the Salida Record published a drawing of the building and stated, "this handsome building will be named by the people of the county as soon as the foundation is completed. A handsome prize is offered." The building was erected and owned by the Golden Rule Store. The firm stated, "We are now without a doubt enjoying the largest trade in this county and if this is true what an immense advantage we will have over all competitors. We have several stores and sell for strictly cash, therefore we can undersell them all. We care not for Eastern catalogues." The 1904 Sanborn map indicates that the footprint of the building was drawn "from plans," and was to be divided into two storefronts for a dry goods store and a grocery. The 1905-06 city directory indicates that part of the building (219-225) was occupied by the Golden Rule store, which continued to occupy the space into the second half of the twentieth century. The store was advertised as "the cheapest house to buy dress goods, silks, notions, underwear, shoes, carpets, draperies, linoleums, etc." A specialty of the store was the ladies' suit and shirtwaist department. The Golden Rule stores were among the first modern dry goods chain stores in the country. The first store was opened in 1889 in Longmont, Colorado, by Thomas M. Callahan, and it became a model for more than 100 other stores. The stores were very competitive and stocked quality, high­ demand goods at low prices, trading only in cash and carry. James Cash Penney was one of the early operators of a Golden Rule store and later founded his own department store chain. Rosslyn and Lee Scamehorn have written a history of the Callahan family and their Golden Rule stores. Around 1891, Burr Fisher, a brother-in-law of T.M. Callahan, opened the first Golden Rule Store in Salida. In 1899, C.H. Ramsay, brother-in-law of Fisher and Callahan, acquired control of the store, which was managed by local people. C.H.R. Warriner & Son, a San Diego mercantile business, gained control of the store sometime before 1911. They quickly sold the store and its contents to A. Rosenquist, of Geneva, Nebraska, who, in turn, sold it to a Kearney, Nebraska company. The store then closed. The 1914 Sanborn map shows a bakery, a meat market, and a confectionery in the building. Thomas M. Callahan, Katherine M. Ryan, and Ira T. Letford, partners in the Golden Rule Mercantile Co., announced within months that the New York Store would open in the former Golden Rule space. Letford served as manager of the Salida store and Theresa M. Ryan (sister of Katherine Ryan) was the clerk. From 1913 to 1922, T.M. Callahan spent much of his time in Salida, according to the Scamehorns. The store was apparently rechristened the Golden Rule Mercantile Co., which is how it is listed in the 1922-23 city directory. Theresa Ryan became a partner-manager after Letford left the business in 1918. In August 1922, Callahan sold the Salida store to Ryan & Ryan (composed of Katherine, Theresa, and James R. Ryan). Theresa M. Ryan then managed the Salida store, while Katherine and James Ryan managed the company's stores in Gooding and Blackfoot, Idaho. A 1922 article in the Salida Mail called Theresa Ryan "one of the cleverest merchants in the United States." In 1949 the company advertised dry goods, ready-to-wear, shoes, and men's furnishings, and was operated by Theresa M. Ryan and Edmund J. Finn. The Golden Rule Mercantile Company was still listed at this address in the 1951 city directory. The other store in this building by 1905-06 was the drugstore of George W. Armstrong. In August 1901 Armstrong had acquired Thompson's drugstore in Salida. He enlarged and remodeled the store in the 100 block of F Street, and advertised drugs, patent medicines, toilet articles, and perfumes. A biography of Armstrong published about 1905 called him "one of the leading merchants of Salida." Armstrong was a native of New York, where he attended school and worked in a bank. In 1864, he crossed the plains to Colorado, where he mined for a year before returning to New York. He engaged in a mercantile business before coming back to Colorado in 1877 and took up mining in Central City. Unsuccessful in his mining ventures, he walked to Denver looking for work, arriving with ten cents in his pocket. Armstrong worked for the wholesale grocery of J.S. Brown & Co. in Denver. In 1880 he opened a grocery in West Denver and was elected to the city council. In 1882, he started a general store in Montrose county, which expanded with branches in Gunnison County, Debeque, and Parachute. In 1910, Armstrong's business was purchased by W.C. Alexander, who then operated a drug and jewelry business. The upstairs of the building originally contained a large hall. In 1906, the Salida Mail reported that the hall, "one of the largest and very best in the city except perhaps Elk Hall" had been converted into offices. In 1922-23 the city directory indicated that Mary Stokes, cloak and suit maker, was occupying 215 F. In the 1927-28 directory this business was listed as The Stokes Company, Inc., and was still at this address. On the 1945 Sanborn map, a movie theater is indicated in 215. By 1951, only the Golden Rule Mercantile was listed at this address. History Colorado's Architectural Inventory Forms have more information and are available at the Salida Library.