Joseph Horne Company
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| Department store | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Fate | Merged with Lazarus or sold to Dillard's |
| Successor | Dillard's (1994-present) Lazarus (1994-2005) Lazarus-Macy's (2003-2005) Macy's (2005-present) |
| Founded | February 22, 1849 |
| Defunct | 1994 |
| Headquarters | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares |
| Website | None |
The Joseph Horne Company, often referred to simply as Joseph Horne's or Horne's, was an iconic, regional department store chain based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The store was one of the oldest in the country being founded on February 22, 1849, but was often overlooked as it maintained only a regional presence. The chain ceased operations in 1994 after being merged with the Lazarus division of Federated Department Stores, Inc..
Joseph Horne (1826-1892) was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, the son of John Horn and Catherine Otto, grandson of Henry Horn, who had served in the Continental Army. Joseph moved three counties west to Pittsburgh and found his first job in the retail trade with Christian Yeager, the father of South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club member H. C. Yeager. Soon, Joseph moved to the F.H. Eaton store, and became a partner. He bought the business in 1849, at age 23, renaming it The Joseph Horne Company. He joined forces with Christian B. Shea and A. P. Burchfield, whose families intermarried and entered the business, and brought an hauteur to this emporium that has never been equaled in Pittsburgh.
In 1881, the firm built its new building designed by Charles Tattersall Ingham at Wood and Liberty. In 1891, at age 65, Horne sold the wholesale side of his company's operations to the Pittsburgh Dry Goods Company. He married twice — first to Mary Elizabeth Shea, later to Emma Galway — and sired numerous children. His son Durbin Horne, born in 1854, was among Horne's children who followed their father into the family business. Both Joseph and Durbin Horne were members of the area's elite South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. Joseph Horne died in 1892.
Christian Bernard Shea (1835 – 1900) was the brother-in-law of Joseph Horne, and his founding partner in The Joseph Horne Company. Shea was involved with both halves of the family business — retail (Joseph Horne Co. Department Store) and wholesale (Pittsburgh Dry Goods Company). Shea was also member of South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, which suffered devastation during 1889's Johnstown Flood.
Soon after Horne bought the Eaton Co., the Joseph Horne Company became a leading Pittsburgh department store. In 1879, he constructed a new central location at Penn Avenue and Stanwix Street in Downtown Pittsburgh, a seven-story landmark which was the first department store in the city's downtown. The building still stands to this day and several Horne's signs remains on the building as they do at the former Pittsburgh rival Kaufmann's on Smithfield Street.
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Wikipedia