Mulvey Mercantile
a.k.a. Kirkegard Hardware
425 W. Main, Yukon, OKThe Mulvey Mercantile building is significant as an example of early commercial activity in territorial Canadian County. Established in 1893, the Mulvey brothers moved to the current location in 1904. As the largest merchandising firm in the city, they served Yukon and the surrounding farming community until the period of the Depression. A diversified business, the establishment included hardware, farm implements, appliances, and in the current structure, dry goods. Thriving, the business eventually expanded by the 1920s to include almost the entire 400 block of Main Street. The onslaught of the Great Depression necessitated retrenchment on the part of the enterprise. During this period the business was scaled down, finally withdrawing to a hardware store located in the present structure. Under continuing financial pressure the mercantile was sold in the 1930s. The current owners purchased the building in the 1950s. Although changing hand on these two occasions, the business has remained a hardware store since the mid1930s.
Architecturally the building is one of the more imposing structures in the commercial business district. The red brick poly chrome western commercial structure is the best example of its kind in Yukon.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.