After the Market Street fire of 1908 leveled the majority of the wooden buildings on the street, new brick storehouses were constructed at a rapid pace. The city council of Clinton passed an ordinance requiring all buildings in the “fire district” to be made of brick or stone rather than wood. Wiley Ring, a prolific developer of both residential and business properties in Clinton at the turn of the century, had this structure completed in 1908 and sold it to Ardle Davis. A grocery store was the earliest known business to operate in the building.