The original building on this site was likely only one or two years old when it burned in 1899. Its replacement, the present two storey brick building, wasn't built until 1910.
It was in 1917, 7 years after this building went up, that a fire destroyed the entire block to the north of the block in which this building stands. At that time, after the town's second major fire, it was mandated that all new construction in the commercial area of the town be of "fireproof" material, such as brick or concrete. This building predates that mandate by 8 years, causing us to surmise that it could have been the first of its kind in the town.
Who Mr. Buggy was we have no idea, just as we have no idea what became of the occupants of the previous building, the Simpson Fruit Stand and the New York Restaurant. No mention is made of any of the three in histories of Republic or of Ferry County.
Mr. Buggy's Cresent Dry Goods Store is site 21 on the Town of Republic
Walking Tour.
Text from the marker follows.
Mr. Buggy's Cresent Dry Goods Store
Original site of Simpson Fruit Stand and New York Restaurant. Burned in 1899. Present building built in 1910 by
Charlie Anderson.
Site 21