According to the 1884 Sanborn Fire Insurance map of Dallas, this property was vacant at the time apart from a wooden shed situated toward the back of the lot. The shed was probably used to store building and plumbing supplies for neighboring businesses. The 1888 Sanford map shows that a wood building had been constructed on this lot. The store is identified as selling agricultural implements.
Between 1888 and 1892, this store had been partitioned into two shop areas with different addresses. The agricultural implement business had been replaced by a grocery store at the 323 Main Street location and a butcher’s shop at the 325 Main address. At some point within the next decade, the two interior areas were converted to a restaurant (at 323) and office space (at 325).
By 1905, the building had undergone a nearly complete transformation. The wood structure had been replaced (c. 1902) by a fire-proof brick building in a single story commercial block form with a framed cornice. As is usual with this single-story design, the street-level zone contains public interfacing space with a store front and direct sidewalk access for pedestrian traffic. Cornices often form a prominent visual element in commercial block designs of that era. The current 772 Main address still displays a more elaborate cornice than is standard. Also, at some point, the front facade was altered with stucco material scored to replicate ashlar stone.
Probably in 1902, two of the Guy brothers, Newton (“Newt”) and Bert, moved their small multipurpose business on Mill Street around the corner to the 323 address on Main. Indeed, the 1905 Sanford map shows this address as inhabited by a paint and wallpaper store with an area for picture framing at the back, and just outside the rear of the building, a paint-mixing shed. A restaurant occupies the 325 address. Also in 1905, a third Guy brother, Charles, entered the firm which became known as the Guy Brothers Store.
This move to the small store on Main Street began a long period of expansion for the Guy Brothers Store. Newt Guy and another business partner, E. V. Dalton, bought out various adjoining businesses and often added that stock to their inventory. Extra stock would be stored on any vacant property on this block.
By 1913, the next-door restaurant was gone, replaced by another Guy enterprise, a shop selling stoves and crockery. The 323 address was now devoted to hardware and paints.
After the restaurant disappeared, the Guy Brothers expanded north up the street toward a millrace that bisected the block. The store at 329 Main, for example, shifted from selling wagons and agricultural implements to doing, under Guy ownership, a thriving business in plumbing and sheet metal.
The Guy businesses continued to expand north across the millrace and toward Oak Street as new departments were added–automotive supplies, sporting goods, farm supplies, and later a garden center and a gift and housewares department.
In 1938, Newt Guy passed away. His brother Frank bought out the other two brothers, Bert and Charles, and became the president of Guy’s Hardware. In 1991, Frank sold the business to Chuck Friesen, a longtime employee. Other stores and businesses began over the years to replace the Guy locations until, in 2018, the last Guy’s property was sold, ending a 116-year run as a downtown business.
KEY REFERENCES:
- Library of Congress Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for Dallas, Oregon
- Polk County Assessor’s Office, Deeds
- The Story of My Life in the 1900s by Delbert Hunter
- A Hundred Years on Main Street, Polk County Itemizer Observer, September 3, 2002
- National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for the Dallas Downtown Historic District