John Hackett opened the first store in Beloit, in his house at the southeast corner of State and School streets.

The evidence

• “The first store was kept by John Hackett, in the fall of 1837. In 1838, Field & Lusk put up a large store on the corner of State and Race streets, which is generally regarded as the first actual store in the village.”

  1879-history-of-rock-county/15-rock-county-ch09-beloit.md, PDF p. 611 / book p. 615

  Butterfield, C. W., et al. The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871585.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources