Harold Tonkin is pictured in his hardware store, located at 107 W. Daugherty St. In addition to paint and hardware the store offered a variety of household wares such as dishes, garden supplies and toys.

Old News

From the 3rd floor
of the Webb City Public Library

Tonkin Hardware was one of the ground-floor stores in the YMCA building

Webb City Area Genealogical Society
January 3, 2024

Harold E. and Emily Josephine Tonkin moved to Webb City from Chanute, Kan., in 1951. By 1952 they had opened Tonkin Hardware at 107 W. Daugherty St.

Before opening the hardware store, Harold had worked for the Santa Fe Railroad for 41 years. He was born on Nov. 2, 1902, at Enterprise, Kan. Emily Stewart Tokin was born on May 12, 1906, at Humbolt, Kan.

They owned and operated their store until about 1959. The couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on July 4, 1975. Emily died on April 20, 1977, at the age of 70, and Harold died on Feb. 2, 1990, at the age of 87. They are both buried at Mount Hope Cemetery.

Tonkin Hardware was located in the west half of the former Webb City YMCA building. This photograph was taken in 1976, which was 17 years after Tonkin Hardware closed. But you can still faintly see the word hardware on the sign. The building, adjoining a pharmacy, was declared a nuisance and torn down in the 1980s – not necessarily for a parking lot, but that’s what the lot is now.

This photograph, looking east on Daugherty Street from Webb Street to Main Street, was taken in the late 1950s.

Sentinel bound volumes are now in the Genealogy Room

The WCAGS has accepted ownership of the complete collection of bound volumes of the Webb City Sentinel, from 1983 (after the fire) until the final issue on Dec. 30, 2020.

Those issues can also be viewed on microfilm, along with much older issues.

Webb City Area Genealogical Society

WCAGS members staff the Genealogy Room on the third floor of the Webb City Public Library. Current hours are noon to 4 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. Meetings are held at 6 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month in the Genealogy Room.

Everything you want to know about Jasper County Missouri Schools is available at a site compiled by Webb City Area Genealogical Society member Kathy Sidenstricker.