National Register Listing

Old Penick-Hughes Company

a.k.a. Thompson Hardware

100--106 E. Hamilton, Stamford, TX

<p>The building last occupied by Thompson Hardware was built in 1909 and 1910 to serve as the headquarters for the Penick-Hughes Company, a wholesale and retail hardware store also selling farm implements and furniture. The Penick-Hughes Company opened a small retail store in Stamford in 1899, even before the town was established. The venture was successful, and the company headquarters was transferred there from Anson. By 1909 the firm felt a need for more space and built the present building. The structure, when completed, measured 75 ft. by 165 ft., and occupied four floors including the basement. Within the structure were the company's general offices as well as wholesale and retail sales departments--all linked by an internal telephone network.</p><p>The company's major partner and moving spirit, R. L. Penick, soon became a civic leader in the city, as well as one of its leading citizens. He served as mayor of Stamford in 1903, then again in 1917 and 1919. After over 40 years of commercial and civic success, R. L. Penick died in 1944 and the company dissolved soon thereafter.</p><p>The structure he built to house his business continues to dominate the downtown of Stamford, looming over the smaller, lesser commercial structures on the square. It remains a local landmark, well known to old timers as the "old Penick building." Historically it is one of the most significant commercial structures in the city, a reminder of one of<br>Stamford's most successful businesses during the town's era of growth and development.</p>

Local significance of the building:
Commerce

Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

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.