Clear Lake’s Main Street has changed over the years as businesses come and go. Some of those business changes have been the result of changing times and/or changing needs. As you may know, the first permanent settlers in Clear Lake were Joseph Hewitt and James Dickerson and his family in the late spring of 1851.
The very first place of business in Clear Lake was a general store on Main owned by Mr. T. S. Palmer in 1855. As reported, Mr. Carpenter’s grocery store opened in 1868. Manning’s agricultural implement shop. Clear Lake also needed a livery, which opened in 1869 and welcomed folks who needed supplies to build homes and businesses. The Palmeter brothers opened a hardware store in 1880. Main was bustling with activity.
Our focus in today’s article is the need for furnishings. The furniture store owned by the Coates brothers burned in 1871, and Clear Lake was ready for a new permanent store. Wilcox Furniture on Main is closing its doors after serving the community for 73 years. The history of this business is fascinating.
The current store’s location evolved from four earlier businesses. One was McGowan Hardware on the corner of Main and N 5th St. from 1907 to 1969. Two others were Mr. Bert Williams’ funeral home and furniture store.
That’s correct, often funeral homes and furniture stores were connected since the furniture store owner could also make caskets. Another business was People’s Gas & Electric (PG&E).
The new funeral home at 314 N 7th St opened and Wayne began to expand the Wilcox Furniture footprint. He purchased McGowan Hardware, Clear Lake Appliance and the PG&E building. Months of remodeling led to a large showroom for furniture, bedding and carpet. Wayne’s daughter Janelle (Wilcox) Sargent currently owns the business and Gene Madsen is general manager.
The two photos from the Clear Lake Historical Society collection show the business in a late 1950’s black and white photo. The color photograph shows the building as we know it today. We in Clear Lake now bid farewell to a long-time business.
Wilcox 1960s
Wilcox Furniture 2024
