Biggers Mercantile Building

108 East Main Street

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Hardy Downtown Historic District

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Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 26, 2025

1. Biggers Mercantile Building Marker

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From the National Register Nomination prepared by Kenneth Story, Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, 8/8/1995:
The intact historic fabric of downtown Hardy includes storefront buildings, separate commercial structures of various types and vintages, and a small number of significant residential buildings that are included because of their role in the unique character of Hardy's historic commercial district. The historic buildings range from one to three stories in height. Most of the buildings are of masonry construction, with brick and native stone being the materials of choice. A few wood frame buildings survive, as

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 26, 2025

2. Biggers Mercantile Building Marker

The marker is mounted near the left [west] edge of the storefront.

do some historic formed concrete block structures. The stone buildings frequently display grapevine mortaring and are built of fieldstone. The brick buildings are usually of red brick, though some buff brick buildings are found also, and their parapets often contain a simple, recessed signage panel.

The historic core of Hardy, Arkansas is located on the north bank of the Spring River, with its commercial axis formed by the railroad tracks (first the Kansas City, Ft. Scott and Memphis Railroad, then the St. Louis and San Francisco (“Frisco”) and now the Burlington and Northern) and Main Street, both of which run parallel to the river. The community of Hardy was founded in the early 1880s, after the arrival of the railroad, and grew to become the county seat of the northern district of Sharp County in 1891, with the new courthouse being completed by 1894. By the turn of the century Hardy became a rather busy resort town, largely due to the popularity of the recreational and fishing opportunities afforded by the Spring River.

A side-effect of the early twentieth century development of Hardy as a resort community was the construction of various types of buildings designed to shelter the resulting service industries. Such construction included general mercantile buildings, hotels, gas stations and tourist courts. This was particularly true during the period after World War I,

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 26, 2025

3. Biggers Mercantile Entrance

Vingage terrazzo tile is still in place.

with the dramatic growth in popularity of the automobile. The growth and expansion of downtown Hardy continued throughout the 1920’s but slowed during the Depression and World War II.

The Hardy Historic Commercial District remains one of the last examples of the small resort community in Arkansas and how it developed. Historical accounts of other resort communities throughout the state — most of which have long since disappeared — relate how many resort communities began simply as settlements organized around a spring or river and composed largely of private farmsteads. These communities took on a resort character only after the dramatic growth nationally of the spa "craze" and the widely held belief that waters — particularly mineral waters — held medicinal qualities that could heal any number of maladies and afflictions.

(By Rachel Silva, 6/11/2016) Excerpt:
Biggers Mercantile Building (c. 1920), 108 East Main Street (today: storage?)
According to The Hardy History (p. 38) as well as Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, Robert S. “Bob” Biggers established the Biggers Mercantile Store in a wood-frame building on this site in 1908. He built the present structure in

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 26, 2025

4. Biggers Mercantile Terrazzo Tile Entryway

Vintage terrazzo tile design forms the name “Bigger’s”.

the 1920s to replace his wood frame building. The present Biggers Building was constructed with ornamental concrete block, a popular building material during the early 20th century because it was durable and fireproof. After her father’s death in the early 1950s, Dolly Biggers operated the store, which was then called The R. S. Biggers Company. The Biggers Store sold groceries, dry goods, and shoes. Locals remember the big stove in the back corner of the building, where the women of Hardy gathered on Saturdays. Notice the Biggers name in the front tile by door and pressed tin ceilings.

Excerpt:  The Hardy Downtown Historic District encompasses most of the central business district of the resort community of Hardy, Arkansas. It extends along Main Street, between Church and Cope Streets, and includes a few buildings on adjacent streets. Hardy was founded as a railroad town in the 1880s but grew by the end of the 19th century into a resort community, serving as commercial center for vacationers from Memphis, Tennessee. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 26, 2025

5. Biggers Mercantile Building (front/south elevation)

Looking north across East Main Street. North Spring Street is on the left.