A Look Back at Delmont… Cohen’s Department Store

A Look Back at Delmont
Cohen’s Department Store

Although Delmont’s First National Bank closed in 1906, the building it occupied at the corner of West Pittsburgh and Freeport Streets has survived the test of time. Cohen’s Department Store sold shoes, clothing and household furnishings there until the early 1930’s when the business moved to Export.

Early in the 21st century, a few Delmont residents still had memories of shopping at Cohen’s; Vera Livengood DeFrances was one of them. She shared her memories of the store and its owner. “Nathan Cohen was a kind man,” she recalled. “If you didn’t have the money to buy something, he’d put it on a tab for you. He was kicked by a mule when he was young; the accident affected his speech. Mr. Cohen and my father, Bill Livengood, were good friends.

“When I was 14, I bought my first pair of high-heeled shoes there,” Mrs. DeFrances continued. “That would have been around 1930. They were black with two-inch heels.”
Since Cohen’s Department Store moved to Export in the early 1930’s, the building has been occupied by many different businesses, including a drug store, a service station, a restaurant and an antiques store, as well as others.

In the first photo, taken around 1921, Dorothy Zimmerman (center) pauses in front of Cohen’s Department Store with her niece, Eleanor, and nephew, Jimmy Zimmerman. The second photo, shows the inside of the department store. The man in the photo is most likely the owner, Nathan Cohen.