Dunn's Block / Means & Ashley Mercantile Company
Saguache County
The property consists of an 1874 building with a ca. 1910 addition. The older portion is representative of the Italianate style, reflected in its brick walls with quoins, the projecting metal cornice, and the tall, narrow arched window and door openings marked with hood molds and keystones. It is the most architecturally sophisticated of Saguache’s early buildings. A variety of businesses occupied the building, contributing to the commercial success of Saguache.
Dunn's Block / Means & Ashley Mercantile Company (2006 photograph.)
The building subsequently housed one of the town’s most prominent businesses-Means & Ashley Mercantile. The building’s history typifies the pattern of commercial activity experienced in the first fifty years of Saguache’s development. Early on, the building hosted important political meetings and social gatherings, and served as the meeting lodge for several of the town’s fraternal organizations, including the Odd Fellows, Masons, and Woodmen. The Masons continue to meet here.