A deal completed Thursday gives Mrs. Harry L. (Mabel) Cox, mother of Eugene Cox, ownership of three-quarters of the block on the public square that was burned out on Monday night May 6th.
Sam Barbaro owns the other quarter of the block. Mrs. Cox, widow of the late Harry Cox, owned the Cox Hardware and Furniture building and her son owned the fixtures and the merchandise which was destroyed in the fire. Mrs. Cox was one of several bidders for the building formerly occupied by Goss Furnishings and Kay’s Store, located directly west of the Cox building. It was owned by Genesco, a nationally operated wholesale shoe firm in Nashville, Tenn.
Mrs. Cox said that she is not ready yet to predict what they would do with the corner, but she indicated plans would be formulated soon for the erection of a new building on the site. Purchase of this additional real estate is the continuation of growth for this popular firm, which was started in 1912 when the late T.A. Cox and his son, Harry L. Cox purchased the W.E. Campbell Hardware Company located in the south east corner of the public square it was at that time a single store room 22-1/2 feet wide by 100 feet in depth.
In 1915 the building was extended to College Street three stories in height. This land was originally a vacant lot on which Cox’s hitched their horses and delivery wagons. In 1922, T.A. Cox and his son Harry Cox purchased the building then occupied by the B.B. Confectionary due west of the original building. It was owned by the father of Arthur Aikman.
At that time T.A. Cox retired and turned the business over to his two sons, Harry and Clarence Cox. Clarence Cox died in July, 1937. Upon graduation from college, Gene Cox joined his father, Harry L. Cox, in the business and following his father’s death in July, 1947 has managed the business himself, his mother, Mrs. Harry L. (Mabel) Cox owning the building.
On Christmas eve, 1935, fire damaged the second floor of the Cox owned building in which was the Simonton Variety store was located at that time and the Farm Bureau and Twin Oil Companies had their offices on the second floor. Dee Small was the farm adviser at that time.
In 1946 they took over the building on the west and expanded their furniture business with modern furniture and display rooms.
In April 1962 they held their fiftieth anniversary and in 1963 they increased the sales room by a complete modernization program that gave them nearly a third more space. They had a Gourmet Shop that was the only one of its kind in Southern Illinois.
Gene Cox was named last year as “Man of the Year” by the Marion Chamber of Commerce. The purchase announced today gives Mrs. Cox ownership of the largest portion of land on the public square, with its’ approximately 100 feet of frontage. She now owns three-fourths of the block which burned out.
(Extracted from local newspapers and compiled by Harry Boyd, posted at http://www.marionfire.us )