Sixty Years

from here …

(taken about 1929)

… to here
1988

Horseshoes to Penneys

Crail retired at the end of 1925 after 42 years in business. The stock from the store was offered On Sale! for nine months following his retirement.

When the store was empty, it was extensively remodeled and in March, 1927, a new tenant moved in.

It was a happy time

It's not every day that there's a wedding in a dry goods store.

This photo commorates the 1910 Fourth of July parade in which the Crail family float won first place over 70 other floats. The car is a Thomas Flyer, the same model that won the New York to Paris Race around the world a few years earlier. Crail went first class all the way!

1895 Improvements

Crail's popularity and success in business allowed him to improve the store by adding a decorative metal ceiling. Remnants of that ceiling remain in the space above the display windows, undisturbed after all these years.

the Beginning of an Era

In 1889, James B Crail dissolved his business partnership in the Horseshoe Store on the south side of the square and moved the dry goods store to the Bryson Block on the northwest corner of the square.

First, some history

The building was constructed in 1876, replacing an old hotel on the site called the Iowa House. It's shown on this 1874 map of Washington on the northwest corner of the square.

There were two stores facing the square - the New York Store in the corner room sold dry goods, and a grocer occupied the south half of the building.

Welcome & Hello

Hello Visitors! Come on in! Welcome to the Bryson Block.

The Bryson Block is a two story brick commercial building on the west side of the square in downtown Washington. Built in 1876, its first occupants were a grocery in the south half of the building and a dry goods store, The New York Store, in the north half.

Through the years, occupants have included Crail's, the J C Penney Company, and Dollar General.

We're creating a blog so you can watch our progress as we remodel the building for new uses. We'll try to post each week with an update and new photos.