Bozarth Harness Shop

This simple, one-story brick building is a successor to the original, almost equally nondescript, woodframe Bozarth Harness Shop, which was founded by its namesake in the first decade of the 20th century. Constructed around 1920, it is another instance of a business that has served Douglas customers from its original location, and in more or less the same capacity, for nearly a century, despite changes in ownership. (On the current tour, other business establishments sharing the same distinction include the College Inn and the Steffen Drug Store.) Once flanked by the Converse County Bank on the south, and by the Bolln Dry Goods Store on the north, the harness shop was conveniently situated to attract and hold a customer base sufficient to keep it thriving across much of the 20th century and into the present day. Long-time owners Harry and Jennie Pollard acquired the business from its founder in 1917, replaced the original wood-frame building with the present structure, and offered leather goods, including saddles, from this location until about 1950. The long tenure of this business, as a type, testifies to the importance of ranching in the Douglas economy throughout the city’s history, and into the present day; as such, the existing building constitutes a venerable piece of the past, now being toted through the present, and into the future.