With a dance hall, known as the Armory Hall, upstairs and a pool hall downstairs, this was, for many years, a well patronized building. Primarily commercial/retail space in the ground floor, one of the first tenants to move in was the Charles Hay Harness and saddlery Shop. Charles H. Hay, the proprietor, was the inventor of the Hay Bridle, an improved bridle intended for work horses with several new and innovative features. Original owners of the building were brothers Levi and Christian Knerr & Thomas J. Tubb.
The impending construction of this two story brick commercial block was announced in early April of 1909, with construction anticipated to begin shortly. At that time it was expected that native sandstone would be the construction material of choice. However, possibly due to economics, the resultant building was predominantly brick, with contrasting lighter brick trim and a fair amount of terra cotta embellishment. As can be seen in the photos, it is a handsome building, one that local architects
Wasmansdorff & Eastman could well be proud of.
With a great many dances and other events held in the Armory Hall over the years, there were even more newspaper advertisements placed to advertise them. This one is for a 1915 Christmas Benefit Ball, placed on Page 8 of the December 09, 1915 edition of the Fergus County Democrat.
