Guthrie, Oklahoma – Part Two
2012.12.21
The 1890 De Ford building sat next to “Government Acre”, which contained the Land Office. The New York Clothiers occupied the ground floor, and Irwin S. DeFord lived above. Later it temporarily housed the post office, federal courthouse, and lawyers offices. In 1904, Flora Willis purchased the building and operated a general store. She and her first husband built the adjacent Willis Building in 1914.
Rodolph and Louis De Steiguer built this pair of buildings in 1890 for their Bank of Guthrie and a tobacco company, with living quarters above.
The Victor Block was built in 1893 by Winfield S. Smith and originally contained a drug store, several saloons, a wholesale liquor business, some Territorial offices, and a ballroom.
There’s an oft-repeated story that William Wrigley, Jr. made his first chewing gum in Guthrie in 1892 at 113 N Division Street. This is highly unlikely, as he moved from Philadelphia to Chicago in 1891 as a soap salesman for his father; there is no record of even visiting Oklahoma. He began giving away baking powder as a premium to sell the soap. When that seemed more popular, he switched to selling baking powder and giving away chewing gum. By 1892, he had abandoned baking powder and was selling and manufacturing gum.
Guthrie