Harrison Brothers Hardware: A Huntsville landmark rooted in history

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - Harrison Brothers Hardware is not a typical hardware store. The downtown Huntsville shop sells locally made waffle mix, greeting cards, and other goods — all inside a building with floors that creak beneath the weight of more than a century of history.

The store originally opened as a tobacco store in 1879 on Jefferson Street before relocating to its current location on the square. Twenty-two years after the original shop opened, the building burned down. The Harrison family used the opportunity to expand.

“You could come to Harrison Brothers and buy everything from teacups to furniture to mule harnesses,” said Donna Castellano of the Historic Huntsville Foundation. “They were a general store that supplied the commercial needs of the Tennessee Valley.”

The Historic Huntsville Foundation has operated the store as a preservation project for more than four decades.

“Harrison Brothers Hardware has been a preservation project of the Historic Huntsville Foundation since 1984 to preserve the tradition, preserve the building, and these wonderful interiors,” Castellano said.

Historic artifacts and displays remain on the walls throughout the store. Castellano said the authenticity of the space stands out in a city defined by its technology sector.

“It is authentic. And I think that’s something in a city that’s so high-tech,” Castellano said. “Where breakthrough scientific achievements are just another day at the office in Huntsville, that a store that dates to 1901, 1902 is still at the heart of who we are.”

Harrison Brothers was also honored with the Downtown Huntsville Retail Establishment of the Year award.

“Harrison Brothers is here and not just as a place to shop but is also a place to come about the history of this place that we call home,” Castellano said.

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