Zimmerly Hardware - Exterior only

The Zimmerly Hardware Store in the business districty at Old Cowtown Museum represents the rise of speciality shops that occured after the arrival of the railroad.

Hardware stores departed from the traditional general store, which sold some hardware in addition to various other necessary supplies for a frontier city. Many hardware stores sold more than hardware such as agricultural equipment, nails, stoves, and tinware. By 1878, there were eight hardware stores in Wichita.

Mike Zimmerly arrived in 1871. He owned a hardware store and tin shop where he sold a variety of items including stoves and agricultural implements and made roofing and guttering. He owned a substantial amount of land and was a member of Wichita’s city council while still in his twenties.