Welcome to Dailey Store, proudly showcased here at the Overland Trail Museum. While the Dailey store was donated to the museum back in 1992 by Frank Ross, Frank’s time and story in the Dailey Store started much earlier than that. Come in and take a trip back in time to 1915, where this story begins with the creaking of the front door.

Guy and Mabel Frank, a young couple from Kearney, Nebraska were hired to come to Dailey and run the General Store. Along with many other small communities in Northeast Colorado, Dailey was thriving and business was booming. In the Spring 1915 Guy and Mabel opened the store with a full line of supplies for both the farmers and the townspeople.

By July of that year the store also became a U.S. Post Office. Combination lock boxes were installed for those receiving mail on a regular basis. Postage stamps were available, and packages could be sent and received. The mail was carried to and from Denver on the Streamliner, which passed near the edge of town. Mail was even delivered to Dailey on Sunday! The Denver Post was delivered by train so the little community of Dailey could keep up with the state and national news.

Two years after managing the store, Guy and Mabel Frank purchased it and renamed it The Dailey Cash Store. Customers would come into the store with a list of goods. The clerk would gather the items and wrap them in brown paper and tie them with a string for their journey home.

Guy and Mabel were blessed with three active boys. While the boys were still quite young, their father passed away, leaving Mrs. Frank to raise the youngsters and keep the family business going strong. The boys helped out by sweeping the wooden floor everyday and hauling water to the store from their house about two blocks away. The water was served to customers when they ate at the Dailey Store lunch counter. The boys stayed busy washing dishes, stocking shelves and helping customers. Ross was the youngest of the three boys and has many wonderful memories of growing up in this close-knit community and working alongside his mother and his brothers at the Dailey Cash Store. While Franks’ choice to donate the store was difficult, he did it in hopes that others, especially children, could learn about a different way of life. Other contributions from Mr. Frank include: the rebuilt barbershop, the 1930’s Conoco filling station and the little red caboose.