Real estate appraisal card. 220 F Street, part of lots 1-4, block 32, in Salida, Colorado. The Sandusky building is currently 222 F Street.
This building is associated with the development of dry goods businesses in Salida, having been built between 1906 and 1909 to house S.W. Sandusky Dry Goods. The company traced its roots to the origins of the city in 1880, and S.W. Sandusky was a pioneer merchant, who operated the oldest dry goods business in Salida into the 1930s.
In 1880, L.W. and D.H. Craig founded a dry goods business in Salida known as Craig Brothers. In 1885 that firm was succeeded by Craig & Sandusky. Craig & Sandusky was operated by D.H. Craig, who later became cashier of the First National Bank, and S.W. Sandusky. The business lost about $3,000 in the fire of 1886. In 1891 Sandusky bought out Craig's interest in the business, which was the oldest dry goods house in Chaffee County and the second oldest mercantile business in Salida. S.W. Sandusky's Dry Goods Store carried dry goods, carpets, and shoes in 1900. In 1904 S.W. Sandusky noted that his firm had never intentionally bought a poor article of merchandise, although profit might have been greater on cheaper goods. It was a source of pride for the firm that most of its customers had been purchasing from Sandusky's for many years. This building was erected between 1906 and 1909 by S.W. Sandusky, who was born in Missouri and had come to Salida in 1881. Sandusky's Dry Goods continued to operate at this address through the 1920s. Sandusky stated, "A man would come in and say he wanted an outfit. At a glance I could guess his size. For about thirty bucks he could get clothes that stood up under hard usage--such things as California-made red flannels cut from cloth, blue wool shirts, and a pair of tough boots."
By 1951, Everybody's Store, a dry goods firm owned by Arthur E. Costello, operated here. This store was still listed here in 1961.
History Colorado's Architectural Inventory Forms have more information and are available at the Salida Library.
