In 1863, the eighteenth-century stone building on the left was the home of John W. and Martha Skiles McPherson, and to the right stood a set-back wooden store housing McPherson and Cox's hardware store. On the evening of June 23, 1863, expecting the Confederate army to arrive the next day, the McPhersons spent the night hiding their most valuable merchandise in the numerous fireplaces of their home and wallpapering over the openings to conceal them completely. When the Confederates arrived, they “purchased” most of the store's inventory with worthless scrip, but they never discovered the hidden fireplaces. The McPhersons thus saved the business, which they expanded after the war into the current two-story brick structure. The McPherson family continued operating the store until 1903, and though the enterprise later changed owners and names, it has remained in operation at this location ever since as Shippensburg's oldest business and Pennsylvania's oldest continuously operating hardware store.