In 1859, Francis M. Westbrook bought a lot on the south side of the square. At the time there was only a small frame building standing there and this is where he started selling his dry goods.

This building was originally the first store in Marion and likely dated back to 1840.  It sat next to the original court house that was in the southeast corner of the square.

On June 4th 1875, the counties second court house situated next to the Westbrook building caught fire and was destroyed. At the time, Westbrook’s lot right next to the courthouse, still only had a wooden frame building serving as a store and another wooden building used as a warehouse. Everything in that block suffered heavy damage including Westbrook’s and was rebuilt in 1876.

In 1893, the building was repositioned and rebuilt of brick, but stayed on the same lot.

Another fire occurred on March 31, 1898, and Westbrook suffered another loss of $20,000 worth of smoke damaged goods and what could have been total destruction had it not been for passersby, an able bucket brigade and a metal ceiling he had installed in the new building. Insurance covered most of the loss and he rebounded. In this time, his business included a bustling advertising firm.

On February 2, 1899, yet another fire managed to clean the block out. Heavy losses were incurred by Westbrook and all other surrounding businesses and organizations including the Egyptian Press offices. His losses this time were larger and even though he carried insurance he still came out $5,000 in the hole.

At the time, Westbrook also owned at least one tobacco barn in the 1880′s and 1890′s. The F.M. Westbrook tobacco barn was located on South Liberty Street and employed between 25 and 30 men.

After the 1899 fire, Westbrook then built a two story brick building, which he finished in 1900 and operated as a dry goods house. It was called the New York store, and stood on the south side of the square, east corner of South Market St. The name and style of the company was F. M. Westbrook and Company, with his son, Willis F. Westbrook, as the company.

The Westbrook business appears to have died out with F.M. Westbrook’s passing in 1910 or shortly thereafter.

The New York Store building itself would continue to be occupied for over 50 more years and serve as the home for dozens of businesses and professional offices.

The building would take its last breath in the Cox Hardware fire on May 7, 1963, while being occupied by Goss Appliances.

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(Data from 1905 Souvenir History, WCHS; Marion Fire Reports, City Directories; compiled by Sam Lattuca on 03/25/2013)