Milestones Icon: J.C.Penney

J.C. Penney’s middle name held an omen of things to come for the businessman and entrepreneur that ran a meat and dry goods shop in Longmont.

His father, an impoverished farmer and part-time Baptist preacher, gave Penney the middle name Cash.

Born in Hamilton, Missouri, J.C. Penney moved to Colorado for health reasons, landing in Longmont around 1898, where he opened the J.C. Penney Meat Market, which also had a bakery and sold vegetables.

It’s unclear how well the business did, but Penney became ever indebted to one of Longmont’s founding fathers, Thomas Callahan.

In 1902, Callahan and Guy Johnson, owners of the Golden…