Lumber and hardware have been sold at the store front located at 110 S. Main in Lakin since 1916, but the roots of the store can be traced even further back. In March of 1906, the Mosher & Armstrong lumber business was transferred to Joseph C. Hart. Joining Hart in the venture were Thornton N. Thorpe, E.R. Thorpe, George H. Tate Jr. (Harry), John Tate and Charles Loucks. The company began operations as Hart & Thorpe with Joe Hart and Thornton Thorpe as managers.
By August that year, the firm was advertising as Hart, Thorpe & Co. The business sold coal and farm implements in addition to carrying a full line of building materials including lumber, shingles, lathe, doors, paint, cement, windows, stoves and more. Hart, Thorpe & Co. operated out of a small frame building on the east side of Main Street near the railroad tracks, and everything was sold “at prices as low as honest trade principles” permitted.
The 110 S. Main location was completed in December of 1916, and the company celebrated with a grand opening on December 20. The event was largely attended and included refreshments and dancing with music furnished by the Bon Ton Orchestra. The new, larger building allowed Hart, Thorpe & Co. to expand its stock, and customers could buy anything from fine china to guns and ammunition.
When John Tate died in 1922, his interest was acquired by Cecil Tate. In December of 1923, the local papers announced that the Thorpes had sold their interest in the store to the partnership of J.C. Hart & Company; thus, the business name was changed to J.C. Hart & Co. Hart and J.R. (Ralph) Hutton managed the firm. Hutton had been working there since 1919 when he returned from serving during World War I. When Joe Hart died in 1933, his share went to his wife, Mabel, and two children, Bert and Thelma, and Hutton took over as sole manager. Under his leadership, the firm became one of the largest retail businesses in volume in the area and was one of the larger area distributors of oil and gas well drilling additives from about 1939 to 1959.
Harry Tate’s share was retained by his heirs after his death in 1944, and Hutton bought out Bert Hart’s share of the firm in 1949. When Mr. Loucks died in 1960, his interest was retained by his wife, Rhoda.
On February 1, 1965, the Tate family purchased the interests of all the other partners, and the name of the lumber, hardware, and appliance firm was changed to Tate and Company. According to the April 15, 1976 Independent, members of the Tate family who owned interests in Tate & Co. included Lakinites Brad Tate, Maude Tate, Peggy Davis, and Florence Fletcher; Violet Tate and her son, George Tate, both of Garden City; and Victor Tate, Missoula, Montana.
In November 1974, Don Hammons moved from Denver with his family to manage the firm, and in April 1976, he bought the business which continued under the name of Tate and Co. until January of 1977. Then it was given the name of Hammons Lumber and Hardware, Inc.
The building has gone by the name of Main Street Supply since 2001 when Shannon and Kelley McCormick purchased the enterprise along with Kelley’s parents, Les and Wilma Adams. Shannon said he and Kelley have been the sole owners since 2018 when Les and Wilma retired, and he has no immediate plans to sell or retire. Shannon thoroughly enjoys the work and his customers; plus, the business holds fond memories for him. His grandfather, Pete McCormick, was one of the managers for Tate & Co., and Shannon used to meander around the store on a Flying Turtle scooter as a kid in the 1970s. Tate & Co. sold the popular riding toy.
Shannon and Kelley’s daughter Brooke was three years old when they bought the business. She rode around the shop on her trike, and Shannon said they also sometimes pulled her around in the mop bucket to entertain her. Those rides were a rite of passage that their son, Bode, later enjoyed. Now a senior in high school, he works at Main Street Supply for his parents while Shannon and Kelley’s grandchildren venture about the store on the trike or in the mop bucket.
SOURCES: Diggin’ Up Bones by Betty Barnes; History of Kearny County Vol. I, and archives of The Advocate, Investigator and Lakin Independent with special thanks to Shannon McCormick.