James Drake has graciously provided bradleyark.com with a clipping from the June 13, 1960, Lafayette County Democrat. It deals with the radical remodeling of the building on the southwest corner of Pilot and 4th Street/Highway 160, known as, so the article says, the “Old Hamner Edwards Building.” It is the building currently occupied by Bradley Ag Supply and Kevin’s Kitchen and should not be confused with the Edwards Company building which was located more or less on the site now occupied by the Bradley Municipal Complex.
The article is accompanied by a very grainy photo, reproduced below:
The text of the article is as follows:
“NEW STRUCTURE WILL REPLACE OLD BUILDING
Monday morning, June 13, Mrs. M. M. Hamner, Sr., began work on main street that will greatly improve the appearance of Bradley. The Old Hamner-Edwards building is being partly torn down and will be remodeled and two modern store buildings will take its place. The building has been vacant for several years and has been an eye sore. Windows were broken out and boarded up and [sic] was very unsightly as one crossed the railroad tracks coming into Bradley.
The height of the walls are being lowered changing the entrance from the East to the North. Brick veneer will cover the old outside wall and will be of similar design of the new bank building. The inside walls of the building will be of plaster and the floor will be of concrete. Dirt had to be hauled in to fill the about four feet escavation [sic] that existed after many thousands of gallons of water was pumped from the hole. People who remember when the building was constructed in 1913 say that the dirt was removed by mules and slips in order that air circulation might be possible under the floor of the building. Instead of permitting air circulation, it became a pool of water under the entire 50 x 150 building.
This old building now being removed to give way to a modern structure was constructed by Mr. Tom W. Maryman, then President and Manager of the Bradley Mercantile Co. in 1913. An old building stood on this site previous to this, according to Mr. J. W. Meek, and was partly destroyed by storm.
The Bradley Mercantile operated a business in this then modern brick building from 1913 to 1915. Mr. P. M. Allen purchased the stock and at some later date the building was sold to J. B. and P. D. Burton from whom Mr. Hamner purchased the property recently.
In 1918, Mr. M. M. Hamner, Mr. L. B. Hamner and Mrs. J. B. Edwards went into business in this old store and in 1923 M. M. Hamner sold to Mr. Edwards.
In 1936, Edwards moved to their present location [near the present Bradley Municipal Complex]. Mr. Max Baker then became a partner with Mr. L. B. Hamner which lasted a few years and then Mr. Baker left the business leaving only Mr. L. B. Hamner who moved out of the building four years ago.
The new building now being erected will add two more modern stores to our list of new construction in Bradley. Main street will take on a new look with the completion of this building.”
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The article is reprinted here with permission.
There are two other partial views of this building already on this site. The photo in the post of March 24, 2008, shows this building on the left side of the photo, apparently not long after it was built. The photo in the post of January 22, 2009, also shows this building on the left side of the photo, about 1951.
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