On May 4, 1917, Hardin celebrated the formal opening of the Gay block with a grand ball in the south storeroom of the new two-story brick business block, whose hardwood floor was ideal for dancing. Merchant T. E. Gay had hired the Billings architectural firm of Link and Haire to design the structure, only the second architect-designed building in Hardin, and his $50,000 investment reflected his confidence in the town’s future. In the understated style of the day, Link and Haire gave the building a bracketed cornice, decorative parapet, and a large glass block clerestory that visually separated the first and second floors. Recognizing that many of his customers would be farmers in town for the day, Gay included a commodious ladies’ rest room in the plans. Of the five businesses on the first floor, Gay’s hardware and implement store was by far the largest, while the second floor’s twenty-two offices housed attorneys, physicians, and the Hardin Chamber of Commerce.