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F.L. Smith Building

Owner Frank L. Smith hired noted local architect C.C Rittenhouse to design this majestic two-story commercial structure in Classic Revival style with a splash of Beau Arts. Smith moved his dry goods store to the building in 1901.  Emmerson Furniture followed in 1924, then McMarr’s, a unit of Safeway, in 1933.  The fine lodge room on the second floor housed a number of groups through the years including the Elks, Ku Klux Klan (1920s), Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), Friends in Council, Women’s Relief Corps, Knights of Pythias, Maccabees, Modern Woodmen of the World, Royal Neighbors and Gate City Circle. The second floor entrance is on the 5th Street side near the alley.  Today the building’s west wall is home to a mural showing two downtown Cañon City buildings that were torn down in the late 1890s.