Charles Bowen III pays homage to his ancestors who founded and oversaw the growth of a noted Augusta department store in his new novel, Paladin, the story of a World War II pilot facing swarms of Nazi fighters while also falling for an English woman.
The store was called Bowen Bros. in the 1940s, but it began back in the mid-1800s, and was a staple of downtown life in Augusta for more than a century.
It all began in 1849 when W.D. Bowen, the great-grandfather of local Augustan Charles Bowen III, went to Charleston, S.C. to work as an apprentice for German gun manufacturer, The Happoldt. There, he befriended a British man, John Murray, and they made their way to Augusta on their way to hunt for gold out West.
Bowen liked Augusta so much, he decided to stay once he met and started working with Elisha Rogers in a local gun shop. After working with Elisha for about 13 years, Bowen decided to go into the gun making business for himself.
In in the 1860s, Bowen opened his gun manufacturing business, which he operated until around 1870 when percussion cap guns were becoming a thing of the past as more modern guns and bullets became available.
MORE: Fighter pilots and romance fuel World War II novel
Bowen embraced the change and started carrying general merchandise in his story as well as his manufactured guns. The business continued to grow into the early 1900s when Bowen retired and let his three sons, Charles, Guy and Walter Bowen take the reins.
In the early 1940s, the brothers went to New York to a merchandise store and came across a demonstrator for the Dayton Escalator Company. The brothers bought one and had it shipped to Augusta as an enhancement for the store. However, by the time the escalator arrived in Augusta, World War II had broken out, and the escalator would have to be kept in storage.
The year 1947 seemed to be the right time for change as the brothers bought half of an adjacent jewelry building and expanded the business. They installed the escalator along with automatic doors and central heating and air. These innovations became an after-school attraction for local kids, and people would travel from all over to ride the escalator to different levels of the store that now included a gift shop, toy store and a furniture shop. Over the years, the brothers also expanded to a wholesale division operating out of Augusta and Atlanta.
“I loved the toy department as a kid. There was also an appliance and photographic department as well” said Charles Bowen III.
Business continued to boom until around 1960 when the brothers decided to retire and sold the company. The new owners retained the name and operated for a number of years before closing.
An upcoming sequel to Bowen’s first book, Thorns in the Garden City, touches on the behind- the-scenes events that took place in the local government as innovative businesses like Bowen Bros. came to Augusta, bringing national tourism with them, much to the dismay of many locals.
