E. A. Hannaford Building

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker on this one reads, friends, and it's worth every word. Now, picture a man who came into this world in England, grew up in Ohio, put on a Union Army uniform, and somehow ended up in Granbury, Texas with a drugstore running out of a tent. That's E.

A. Hannaford, born in 1841, and if his story doesn't make you appreciate a solid stone wall, nothing will. The year was 1871 when he rolled into Granbury from Ohio, and he didn't wait around for a proper storefront.

He set up shop under canvas, which tells you something about the man right there. But Hannaford was thinking bigger. By 1886, he and a merchant by the name of J.

D. Baker had put up a two-part commercial building: proper stone, proper style, Italianate if you please. Among the first stone buildings in all of Granbury.

People around town took to calling it the 'Arch Block,' and that cornice on the side of the building? It advertised Hannaford's Drug and Book Store in letters you couldn't miss. 'Doc' Hannaford, as folks came to know him, grew into a prominent civic leader and businessman in this town he'd adopted. When he passed in 1915, the drugstore didn't go dark; his nephew stepped in and kept it going.

Up on the second floor, the building had plenty of life of its own: the Granbury Graphics newspaper set up there, doctors ran their offices, and a beauty parlor found its home among those Italianate arches. England to Ohio to a tent in Texas to a cornerstone of Granbury. Some buildings just carry more story than their walls can hold.

What the marker says

Born in England and reared in Ohio, E. A. Hannaford (1841-1915) served in the Union Army. He came to Granbury from Ohio in 1871, establishing his drugstore in a tent. He and merchant J. D. Baker had a two-part commercial building erected in the Italianate style in 1886. Among the first stone buildings in Granbury, it was commonly known as the "Arch Block." The cornice on this side advertised Hannaford's Drug and Book Store. "Doc" Hannaford became a prominent civic leader and businessman. After his death his nephew operated the drugstore. Early second-floor tenants included the "Granbury Graphics" newspaper, doctors' offices and a beauty parlor. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1997