Ash Fork Hardware Building

401 Lewis Ave., Ash Fork, AZ
Phone:

East < GO > West

This building was built about 1922 as a drug store according to the 2012 Historic Resource Survey of Route 66 in Arizona that was prepared for the AZ State Historical Preservation Office.

The building later served as Justice of the Peace J. J. Slamon's Western Variety Store. Slamon also served as the local Justice of the Peace for many years, reportedly sometimes holding court from behind the candy counter. He was last reelected as Justice of the Peace in November 1962, just a few months before he died in February of 1963. His wife, Metha, passed away in 1967 and her obituary mentioned her running the variety store for 43 years.

The history of the building in next several years are a mystery to me, but in 1984 the Stockmen's Bank opened an office in this building making it the very first bank in Ash Fork. It's fitting that the bank opened in this building because Judge Slamon had tried to get a bank to locate in Ash Fork for many years.

At some point the bank moved out and eventually the hardware store moved in. The hardware store apparently closed at some point because a Facebook post says it reopened in January of 2014. That's where this story ends, for now.

During the great depression in the 1930's the WPA administered public works all around the US, the Flagstone sidewalks in Ash Fork were part of one of those projects.

Photo(s): 2013