Name:  Traylor Hardware

Address:  346 Main St.

Landmark Designation: 1985

Construction Date: 1879

Architectural Style: 19th Century Commercial

This site was part of the original townsite platted in 1871 by the trustees of the Chicago-Colorado Colony. This particular lot was part of an 80 acre parcel purchased for $300 from Edward D. Crawford, who had received a U.S. patent to the land. The lot traded hands over the next several years, and in 1874, John B. Thompson bought the parcel for $375.00.

John B. Thompson arrived in the Longmont area in 1871, prior to the town's establishment by the Chicago-Colorado Colony. He was not a member of the original Colony organizers, but was such a great help to them that he was made a trustee in 1873. In 1879, Mr. Thompson, along with his brother-in-law Royal M. Hubbard, the postmaster at the time, built the Hubbard and Thompson's building at 346 Main Street. The structure would be the new home for Mr. Thompson's hardware store. Mr. Thompson also made a place in history by constructing a landmark house at 537 Terry Street, one of the larger, more elaborate homes constructed in old Longmont.

In 1915, C.A. Traylor purchased the hardware business and renamed it Traylor Hardware Co. Mr. Traylor was an experienced businessman since he had owned a hardware business in Coffeen, Illinois prior to moving to Longmont. C.A. Traylor 's sons, George and Elmer, practically grew up in the store, being teenagers when the Traylors moved to Longmont and working in the store from that time until their deaths.

When C.A. Traylor died in 1947, Elmer and George took over the business. Elmer's daughter, Julianne, also practically grew up in the business, and her husband, George Jones, joined the firm in 1948. Julianne, a Longmont native, and her husband, who moved to Longmont with his family as a youngster, both graduated from Longmont High School and stayed to work in the family business.

George Traylor died in 1953 and Elmer in 1961. George Jones became manager until his death in 1983. In the meantime, another generation, Randall Jones, son of George and Julianne, had joined the firm. Traylor Hardware Co. remained in the Traylor family for over seventy years, which gave it the title of the oldest continuous businesses in Longmont's history.

Reference
HPC 1985-3