Bolln Grocery Store

The Bolln Grocery Store, as a building, is infinitely less interesting than the history of the individual behind it. George Bolln, born in 1847 in Hamburg, Germany, tried at least six different careers before establishing his Douglas grocery business, at the age of 41. Born into a farm family, Bolln trained as a baker in Germany. In 1876, the 29- year-old immigrated to America and crossed half the continent, to the Black Hills of South Dakota, probably to work as a miner. Apparently unsuccessful, Bolln was in Cheyenne, Wyoming within the year, working at a bakery business. Three years later, he purchased 40 head of cattle and drove them to Leadville, Colorado, to try his hand at dairy farming. Four months later, disposing of the dairy, he purchased 200 head of cattle; within a year, all but three had been rustled away, and Bolln returned to Cheyenne, there to work at an established hotel. Within six months, he’d leased the property and assumed control of the business. But after three (apparently successful) years, Bolln sold out of the hotel business, moved to the frontier post of Fort Fetterman, and bought a general merchandise operation. After marrying in 1887, he purchased a wood-frame building in Douglas and moved his business to the new, booming town. By 1898, having made a success of his grocery, he constructed a second building directly adjacent to it and expanded into the dry goods business. And finally, by the turn of the century, the immigrant baker was one of the most prosperous retail merchants in Converse County. Throughout the 1890’s, Bolln engaged in several other entrepreneurial ventures, including sheep ranching and banking. He also served in local politics—as city councilman, county commissioner, and mayor of Douglas. The one-story, red-brick building visible today was built to replace the original wood-frame structure Bolln had purchased for his fledgling grocery business, in 1888. In its staid, unremarkable simplicity, it bears no resemblance to the man behind it.