The building initially housed T.G. Brooks' agricultural  implements store on the first and second floors, with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Hall  occupying the third floor. An important community institution, the 
local chapter had garnered support for establishing the national I.O.O.F. Widows and Orphans  Home at Corsicana in 1885. The lodge continued to meet on the top floor of the building for many  years, although the ground floor hosted a variety of occupants during the 1930s and 1940s,  including Sowell Brothers Groceries and the Shipp and Bunch grocery store