The photo below is of a long-ago demolished building in Bradley. My grandmother, Della McKnight Cochran, wrote underneath the photo: “G. W. & R. R. Lee Store, later Holland Hdwe. Store, where Frank Cochran [Sr.] worked 10 yrs. 4 months.” My father, Frank M. Cochran, Jr., much later wrote on the back of the photo: “Lee Bros. Store about 1910. Later Holland Hdwe. about 1912. Demolished 1931.”
Where was this building? I remember my grandfather, Frank Cochran, Sr., telling me about working for Holland Hardware Co. He said it was located close to the building which was built in the mid-1960’s by the Walnut Hill Masonic Lodge, and which now houses Vicki’s Beauty Shop.
The 1905 Real Estate Tax Book in the Lafayette County Clerk’s Office shows that lots 4, 5, 9, 10, and 11 of Block 9 were assessed to “G. M. & R. R. Lee.” Lots 4 and 5 (50 ft.-wide lots) of Block 9 are approximately where the new Bradley Fire Department building is located today. Lots 9, 10, and 11 (25 ft.-wide lots) of Block 9, where this building apparently stood, are located just south of the former Lodge Hall. The building almost certainly faced the railroad (east).
By deed dated November 3, 1910, G. M. Lee and Willie Howell Lee, his wife, and R. R. Lee and Daisy Lee, his wife, conveyed all five lots to W. D. Stewart for a consideration of $1,500. Mr. Stewart paid $600 down and signed 9 promissory notes for $100 each, with each due on the first day of succeeding months, beginning December 1, 1910. All the notes were without interest. (Deed Records Book T-3, page 488)
By deed dated February 1, 1914, W. D. Stewart and Emma Stewart, his wife, conveyed all five lots to Holland Hardware Company for a consideration of $2,200. Holland Hardware Co. paid $500 down and agreed to pay $565 on February 1, 1915, $565 on February 1, 1916, and $570 on February 1, 1917. Each of the installment payments bore 10% interest. (Deed Records Book Y-3, page 613)
In the 1931 Real Estate Tax Book, the year the notation on the back of the photo says the building was demolished, all five lots were assessed to R. M. Holland.
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