John A. Brown's Department Store

The story

John A. Brown's grew from a string of earlier dry goods stores along West Main. Mitscher-Mitchell was the earliest identified predecessor in 1901, and Brock's Dry Goods was at 213-215 W Main in 1904. Rorabaugh acquired Brock's in 1915. In February 1932, John A. Brown and John H. Dunkin bought out the Rorabaugh interest and the store took Brown's name. The company spread across neighboring buildings on Main and onto West 1st Street, also called Park Avenue.

Brown died in January 1940, and his widow Della ran the company until she died in 1967. Dayton Hudson bought it in 1971, and the downtown store closed in 1974. The Park Avenue building was photographed under the wrecking ball in 1976, and Retro Metro says the clearing was done before 1980. The planned downtown Galleria never happened, and Dillard's took over the chain in 1984.

What's There Now

The pages I opened do not say what occupies the site today.

Everything that was here

• 1932–1974

  John A. Brown's Department StoreStore

  Oklahoma City's biggest downtown department store spread across a block of Main and Park, and was torn down for a Galleria that never arrived.

  See the map in 1933 →
• 1904–1915

  Brock's Dry GoodsStore

  Dry goods store at 213-215 W Main, doubled in size in 1914 and acquired by Rorabaugh in 1915.

  See the map in 1905 →

Did you know?

Nearby history