Founded in 1899 by F.M. Wasson, Nixa Hardware originally was located in a small wooden building just west of Main Street.
Wasson had six nephews who worked on a farm just south of Nixa. The farm wasn't large enough to support all six nephews, so in 1907, Wasson invited one of his nephews to work alongside him in the hardware business.
His two eldest nephews flipped a coin to see who would work for their uncle. Efton Hawkins won the coin toss, joined his uncle in the hardware business and later became his partner.
In 1909 Nixa Hardware moved to a new building on Main Street. The building had a water system and gas lights which were firsts in Nixa and water and gas were provided to neighboring businesses.
The early store carried tools, windmills, horse-drawn wagons and Model T Fords, which were moved to the showroom upstairs using a hand-pulled rope elevator. The store also stocked ice boxes, cast-iron cooking utensils, buggy supplies, harrows and horse collars, pumps, firearms and dynamite.
In the 1930's the store branched out and began selling farm equipment, such as binders, thrashers and combines for harvesting seed. Nixa's early city council meetings were held at the store around the “pot-belly” stove because there was no city hall.
By 1988, Nixa Hardware had outgrown its downtown location, and the store moved to a new building at the corner of Highway 160 and Highway 14. This is where we remain with our “7 Acres of Savings” location to serve the community today.