H.R. Brown's Grocery was one of the last neighborhood grocery stores in Pittsburg, Kansas. By 1912, Pittsburg had seventy-nine retail grocery stores, valued for their convenience to customers. Regular customers were sometimes allowed to buy on credit and pay Mr. Brown after payday, which was especially helpful to coal miners who worked less during the winter months. Mr. and Mrs. Brown moved to Pittsburg in 1904 and opened a grocery store three years later at 424 South Broadway. They moved the store to 412 South Broadway in 1910, where it operated until 1968. A small storeroom was attached to the back of the building, and a barn behind the store housed delivery wagons and horses used to bring groceries to homes. The barn burned down in 1966 and was never replaced. The store sold fresh fruit and vegetables, meats, dairy products, and a large variety of dry goods. Fresh bread from Kent's Bakery and P and G Bakery was delivered each morning, and after 1920 the store also carried wholesale meat purchased from Beck and Hill at 305 North Broadway. Kerosene was sold from a large can for household lamps. Brown's grocery store flourished for almost six decades, operating from 1910 until 1968.