At the closing of Cooksey Bro. Hardware Store on Main Street, Mr. S. N. Cook opened a hardware store at this location of East Main and College Streets. S. N. Cook Hardware Company moved to the Public Square and during the store’s tenure on the Public Square, they relocated from 108 to 111 Public Square, then to the Southeast corner where Roses Five and Dime Store had been. Mr. Sam Cook stayed at this location until his move to West Main Street and merged the two S.N. Cook Hardware Stores.
Sam Cook became a partner in his father’s hardware business in 1956 and remained the only hardware store in the downtown area until his death in 2000. The store was closed in 2001.
Mary Ann Cook Spears and husband James donated the historical items, including a desk and cash register from the Hardware store and donated the building to Fiddlers Grove in 2002.