Ground Floor - housewares, notions, and catalog department - Watch your step, please.

Most of our posts have focused on the main floor because there is just so much to show and tell. This time we're going downstairs to see the lower levels - I say "levels", plural, because there are two.

Many people remember fabric and notions, boys clothing, and sale items being in the basement. This is what it looks like now.



Kind of grubby, huh? This room has the same metal ceiling as the main floor, and is as large as the main floor back to the staircase. Speaking of the staircase, do you remember that it makes a classy 45º turn at the landing near the bottom of the stairs, spreading your view across the entire room? There's more of that elegant Art Deco railing, too.



One of the coolest things about the lower level is the native stone foundation. These stones came from Eckle's Quarry. Does anyone know where that was?



This photo shows the large footer stones at the base of the original foundation, and how the J C Penney Company's 1927 remodeling dug out the basement to allow a lower floor in the retail section. Below the orginal footers, the wall is concrete.