Living in History

The Harwi Hardware Company constructed this building in 1907 as their fourth and largest facility. A.J. Harwi established a retail hardware business in Atchison in 1875, but by 1880, the company had entered into wholesale hardware distribution. This building represents the apex of the A.J. Harwi Hardware Company, considered one of the significant jobbing businesses in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Atchison. The company remained in this warehouse until the Great Depression when the business closed. The four-story brick and timber building is an excellent example of an early twentieth century commercial warehouse of mill construction built in downtown Atchison, Kansas. Although a common type of construction at the turn-of-the twentieth century, the Harwi Building is one of the few remaining examples of its type in downtown Atchison. The period of significance for the A.J. Harwi Hardware Company Building spans the years the company occupied the property, beginning with the construction of the building in 1907 and ending in circa 1934. This remains the only building in Atchison directly associated with the company.

Provided by The National Parks Service / National Register of Historic Places