432 Court Square—Built circa 1918 and housed the DeWitt Pharmacy, owned by Mr. Booker Latimer, from that time until 1945. Mr. Latimer also had the town’s first liquor store in this building. Meanwhile, Clifton McGahhey (“McGah-ha”) had spent several years in the hardware business, first at Stephens Hardware and then with L. A. Black Hardware. Then on March 15, 1946, Clifton McGahhey and his nephew, Floyd, who had just returned from the Army, opened McGahhey Hardware Store. Clifton had actually purchased the building from Doc Lumsden, who briefly owned the building, as there had always been doctor’s and dentist’s offices upstairs. After it became McGahhey Hardware, Mr. Eason rented out hotel rooms upstairs and had a taxi service as well. As you can see, McGahhey Hardware is still open today. It’s operated by Floyd’s son, Gary McGahhey.
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Court SquareRather than being formed by intersecting streets, DeWitt’s court square was designed as a continuous street around a public square with one access street in the middle of each block. The northwest, northeast, and southwest corners have unique lots containing buildings with chamfered corner entrances. The town was platted in such a way that people wouldn’t just pass through the downtown and keep going—the courthouse and square would be your final des- tination. This is an extremely rare layout for a court square—I’ve never seen another town like it.
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