1909 404 1st Street

The building you see today, originally known as the Hubbard-Hansen building was erected in 1909 by Cheneyite, George Yeaman for Charles I. Hubbard and Peter C. Hansen. The one-story brick building was divided into two stores with their entrances facing 1st Street. Our focus is on the right half, 404 1st Street owned by Mr. Hansen.

The Hubbard-Hansen buildings were erected in 1909 as a single front façade with two separate business spaces. Our focus here is on the eastern half, 404 First Street.

What was here before 1909? Well, nothing, until after 1905 when a small wooden structure on part of the lot held the office of the Cheney Transfer Company, a "draying" or freight hauling business.

In the spring of 1909, Peter C. Hansen and Charles I. Hubbard paid contractor, George Yeaman to erect two one-story brick buildings, each 25 x 90 feet, on the corner of First and F Streets. Hubbard moved his grocery into 402 1st, while Hansen leased 404 1st to Peter Monk & Company who sold men's and women's furnishings and millinery, or in modern terms, clothing, accessories, and hats. The Cheney Free Press reported, 

"Both buildings will have basements and plate glass fronts and will be constructed in a strictly modern manner throughout."

Peter Monk had been in the general merchandise business with Louis Houck for several years in Cheney prior to branching out on his own. He was also elected to the City Council in 1909.

In 1910, Jesse G. Campbell bought out the merchandise of Monk & Co., as well as another business. He had initially started his Cheney Cash Store business on College Ave, but after buying out Monk, he moved into 404 1st. Campbell arrived in town in 1904, operating other enterprises prior to the Cheney Cash Store. He was a member of Masonic Temple Lodge 42 A&FM and served as Worthy Patron of the Martha Chapter of Eastern Star. 

You might be asking, what is a "cash store?" Think of it as a discount store, other stores allowed customers to put their purchases on an account with the store and pay at the end of the month or over several months, but a "cash" store didn't have customer accounts, claiming they could keep prices lower by operating on a "cash and carry" policy.

A fire in July 1912, gutted the Cheney Cash Store along with Hubbard's grocery next door, but within a couple months, both were back open in their original locations.

Emory N. Guertin bought out Campbell in 1916, opening Guertin's Cash Store. In 1922, he remodeled by adding windows to the basement improving light for shoppers, a mezzanine balcony provided ample office space, a comfortable rest room for ladies, and a department for ladies' ready-to-wear apparel. According to Mr. Guertin, 

"The entire interior of the store has been refinished and more conveniently arranged, making the store not only more pleasing in appearance but thoroughly modern in all respects."

June Steward Labish recalled that the balcony was still there in the 1950s when she worked at Ben Franklin. During her time, there was still an office in use there, but the remainder of the balcony was just used for display. 

Shortly after Guertin's death in 1924, C.B. Bernard, who had worked at Guertin's from the beginning, along with W.J.H. Carr of Spokane, took over operations of the store. Mr. Bernard left in 1929 to open a men's clothing store, and the business was renamed Carr's Cash Store. Carr had a long and successful run, his business surviving a fire next door in 406 in 1934 with just a bit of smoke damage.

In 1947, Les Zimmerman and family came west from Nebraska on vacation, stopping in Cheney for a bite to eat. They were impressed with the clean, neat, prosperous town and its friendly inhabitants. The family moved to Cheney in August 1948. Zimmerman bought Carr's Variety Store, remodeled it, and opened as Ben Franklin in February 1949. He had operated a Ben Franklin franchise back in Nebraska for a number of years. Zimmerman's Ben Franklin had a successful twenty-year run.

The Cheney Variety Store was the short-lived successor to Ben Franklin in 1968. This is the time when 402 was absorbed into 404 creating a single larger business space under the address of 404 1st. The following year, the variety store became Fonk's. The front windows and door arrangement was significantly changed from the original in this period.

Ellen Holmes moved her Book & Brush to this location in 1979. She sold the business in 1988, but it continued under a different owner until 1993. Pro Fitness was the next business to occupy the space for a couple years, 1994-1995.

AAA Laboratory, a water testing business, opened in 1996. They split the building in 2012 to accommodate The Mason Jar with its new opening on F Street.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps 1884-1939

Cheney Free Press

Southwest Spokane County Historical Society image collection