The Watson's Grocery is located in
State Center, Iowa
State Center is a city in Marshall County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,391 at the time of the 2020 census. State Center is known as the Rose Capital of Iowa.
History
State Center got its start in the year 1864, following construc ...
. The store was built in 1895 for William Watson, owner of Watson's Grocery Store, and has been listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
since 1998. It was listed as a
contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...
on the
State Center Commercial Historic District in 1998.
History
William Watson established Watson's Grocery Store in 1885. A fire destroyed the original store. In 1895 a new building was constructed at 106 W Main Street. The building and interior would remain nearly unchanged throughout its years of operation. In 1981, Florence Watson closed the store, locking the doors and leaving everything as it was. Florence died eight years later in 1989. On October 19, 1989, the community of State Center reopened Watson's Grocery Store as an early Twentieth Century grocery store museum.
References
Commercial buildings completed in 1895
Buildings and structures in Marshall County, Iowa
Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa
National Register of Historic Places in Marshall County, Iowa
Museums in Marshall County, Iowa
History museums in Iowa
Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Iowa
1895 establishments in Iowa
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