4. B. W. Reeves & Co.

Although its façade is no longer there, the store B. W. Reeves & Co. is an integral part of downtown El Dorado history.  Orphaned by the Civil War, B. W. Reeves Sr. and his brother and sister walked from Thomaston, Georgia to Three Creeks, Arkansas (just south of El Dorado), in 1865. 

In 1879, his business partner E. D. Gresham bought the land for this site from Judge Emon Mahony and they opened a general store called Reeves and Gresham.  (One account said that R. C. Van Hook had a drug store there prior to the Civil War.)  Later Reeves bought out his partner’s interest in the store.  When the oil boom hit in the early 1920’s, he shifted his merchandise from mostly agricultural to upscale clothing and accessories. 

In 1924, the store sold more Stetson hats than any in the United States!  Three generations of the Reeves family ran this community0oriented business successfully while also serving on many civic organizations to develop El Dorado.