The Hardware Nurse
Roy M. Nurse, born in California in 1888, purchased a harware business on this site from Harry C. Gray in 1928. Gray kept ownership of the building, and the business was named “Gray Nurse Hardware.”
Harry Gray’s grandfather, James C. Gray, purchased the hardware business and the lot where this building sits in 1888, the same year that Roy Nurse was born.
Around 1912, grandfather Gray became the local Studebaker and Fish Brothers Wagon Dealer and added a second floor to the 50′ X 100′ hardware building he had built here. The new upstairs housed the wagon assembly and display area. To accommodate the wagon business, Gray – and Butte County – got it’s first elevator.
Roy Nurse died in 1971 at the age of 82, but his name and that of the Grays still adorn this building, which is now used as an event venue.
Oroville, California, USA, 2022.
Photos and text copyright © 2023 - 2024 Robert MacKenzie Craig | All rights reserved.
Photos and text copyright © 2023 - 2024 Robert MacKenzie Craig | All rights reserved.