Johnson Bros. & Co. incorporated in 1897 as a wholesale, retail, and custom workshop with John R. Cook as president, Andrew F. Johnson as vice-president, and George W. Johnson as secretary-treasurer. George Johnson was a shoemaker by 1880. The business opened in a two-story building on Main Street, then later moved into a brick building on Oakdale Road, uphill from the rail depot and across from the Johnson brothers’ homes. The company was best known for the Johnson brogan with copper toes.