The Noble-Bird Building, built in 1900 of native rock for the Noble and Bird drug store, is the second oldest building in downtown Poteau. George B. Noble began in the drug industry in 1888 in Denison, Texas, was appointed deputy United States Marshal while living in Cameron in 1891, and kept that position after moving to Poteau a few years later. In Poteau, Noble joined Dr. Felix W. Bird to build one of the largest drugstores in that part of the country. In 1907, Noble was elected the first sheriff of LeFlore County and served until retiring from office in 1913. Bird is credited with forming the first political organization of any size in what is now LeFlore County, Oklahoma, when white men in Indian Territory did not have a vote; supporting the National Democratic Party nominees Cleveland and Hendricks, he organized a club of 400 members to work for their election. Before moving to Poteau, Bird served as a corporal in the Spanish-American War with the First Regiment Arkansas Volunteer Infantry, Company D, at Camp George H. Thomas in Atlanta, Georgia, and was discharged in 1898. The Noble-Bird Drugstore operated until 1910, when it was sold to the Kidd Brothers. Burton Kidd, a druggist and Oklahoma legislator known as “The Unkissed Kid,” served in the Twelfth Legislature of the House of Representatives, and the Kidd family later had a profound effect on Poteau. In 1932, Noble and Bird bought back their old building and reopened the Noble-Bird Drug Store, which remained in operation until 1946. In the late 1920's, the building also housed Poteau's telephone exchange, which provided local and long-distance service to surrounding areas.