James Monroe Hall (1851–1935) came to the town of Tulsa in what was then known as Indian Territory. James and his brother, Harry C. Hall, operated a tent store that had followed the route of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad and selected the site where the road would stop at Tulsa. They initially selected a site where the railroad crossed what would become Lewis Avenue and pitched a tent for the store there. This location was just inside the boundary of the Cherokee nation. When the Halls discovered that the Creek Nation had less restrictions on the activities of white merchants, they moved the store a couple of miles west to what would become First Street and erected a more permanent wooden building.