Meeker's Hardware (also known as The Red Block) is located at White Street and Patriot Drive in downtown

Danbury Danbury is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2022 was 87,642. It is the seventh largest city in Connecticut. Danbury is nicknamed the "Hat City ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, near the city's train station and the

Danbury Railway Museum The Danbury Railway Museum RailincSearch MARKs accessed September 2009 is a railway museum housed in the former Union Station on the east end of downtown Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It was established in the mid-1990s following the cl ...

, just outside the city's Main Street Historic District. It was built in 1883, opened in 1885 and remained in the Meeker family until 2013. It was added to 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 artist ...

in 1983. It was the only

hardware store Hardware stores (in a number of countries, "shops"), sometimes known as DIY stores, sell household hardware for home improvement including: fasteners, building materials, hand tools, power tools, keys, locks, hinges, chains, plumbing supplie ...

on the Register. The

Classical Revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing styl ...

exterior features a brick face with seven

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

and a

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

at the top boasting a central

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

above its

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

. The name of the store is painted on both outside walls and displayed prominently in the front between the two stories. It is complemented by an interior that remains much as it did in the late 19th century. A vintage

cash register A cash register, sometimes called a till or automated money handling system, is a mechanical or electronic device for registering and calculating transactions at a point of sale. It is usually attached to a drawer for storing cash and other ...

is still in use. Tools and supplies are stocked in wooden shelves and compartments with thick, unfinished

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes fro ...

flooring beneath and high ceilings above, with

ceiling fan A ceiling fan is a fan mounted on the ceiling of a room or space, usually electrically powered, that uses hub-mounted rotating blades to circulate air. They cool people effectively by increasing air speed. Fans do not reduce air temperatur ...

s to cool the building in the summertime. On the northeast wall of the building there is a large advertisement for ten-cent

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...

drinks, using the old logo. This was not just a decorative touch; the drink was available in the store in three-US-ounce (90 mL)

plastic cup A plastic cup is a cup made out of plastic, commonly used as a container to hold beverages. Some are reusable while others are intended for a single use followed by recycling or disposal. Disposable plastic cups are often used for gatherings w ...

s for that price. Originally the sign advertised

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atla ...

for five cents, which the store sold starting in 1983; it was a landmark to most visitors arriving at the nearby train station. The store switched to Pepsi and raised the price to ten cents in 2006 after the local Coca-Cola bottler told them they would have to install newer fountain equipment that would make the drinks unprofitable. In 2013, the hardware store closed. It remained vacant until Vazquez Soccerchamp Sports took over in 2016.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures in Danbury, Connecticut Tourist attractions in Fairfield County, Connecticut Companies based in Danbury, Connecticut Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Commercial buildings completed in 1883 Neoclassical architecture in Connecticut Hardware stores of the United States National Register of Historic Places in Fairfield County, Connecticut 1883 establishments in Connecticut

See also

References