In 1853, James and Peter Sutton, A.T. Stewart, and W.B. Marshall erected a two-story building on the south side of Philadelphia Street and operated a store there under the name Sutton, Marshall and Stewart. Known as The Big Warehouse, the building was enlarged and remodeled in 1902. In 1912, Alex Stewart, Jimmy Stewart's father, bought out the existing partners and became the sole owner of J.M. Stewart and Co.; that same year, a fire caused extensive damage and the structure was remodeled to include a deep-set display window arcade. The hardware store became a center of activity for the town of Indiana, and Jimmy Stewart later described it as the center of the universe, full to the rafters with everything necessary to build houses, hunt deer, plant and harvest gardens, play sports, repair a car, make a scrapbook, and handle 2,000 other jobs. In 1941, Jimmy Stewart won the Oscar for his role in The Philadelphia Story, and his father requested and received the award and placed it in the store window, where it remained until his death in 1961. The store closed following Alex Stewart's death, and the property was sold and razed in 1969.