Zadie Block Building

206-208 South Summit Street

Two major downtown fires in 1931, occurring within three months of each other, destroyed several buildings on the east side of the 200 block of South Summit Street.

Although structures on both sides of the Zadie Building, 206-210 S. Summit St., were devastated, it still was standing after the second fire in May 1931.

At the time of the second fire, the Eiffler jewelry store and Bartell’s barber shop occupied the Zadie Building. In July 1931, workmen tearing out the front of the Zadie Building found a stone hidden behind the front of the building with the engraved initials “G.W.C.”

The letters stood for George W. Cunningham, an early citizen and former mayor of Arkansas City.

Old-timers estimated the Cunningham building was erected about 1881. 

In 1931, it was renovated to conform with the front of the new Heard-Bunnel-Denton building, located just to the north, and the entire structure with a 75-foot front was to be known as “Zadie Block.”

The commercial-style building with Neoclassical trim elements was remodeled with a brick façade trimmed with Silverdale-cut stone. It also features quoining and keystones. By October 1936, a Townsend’s department store occupied the building at 210 S. Summit St.

By September 1956, Sears Roebuck & Co. had moved into the north part of the building, at 206 S. Summit St., and Gambles department store was at 208 S. Summit St. By the early 1970s, Litwin’s department store had moved into the building from another downtown location, 307 S. Summit St.

An antique store that had operated under various names — including Land Rush Antique Mall, Summit Antique Mall, and Cowley Antique Mall and Used Book Café — at 208 S. Summit St. finally closed in January 2020. A gift shop, Flawed Perfection — formerly known as Bee’Tween Friends — also has operated in the north storefront at 206 S. Summit St. since about 2015.