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For years, the old Griffon’s Drug Store at the corner of Government Street and Park Boulevard sat vacant and forgotten until two men had a vision for the desolate property.

Today, it is the site of a thriving, miniature community of sorts, perched on the cusp of the newly revitalized downtown area and the merchant district of Mid City.

Dennis Hargroder and Danny McGlynn opened Circa 1857, a unique store offering antiques and architectural salvage, four years ago. It was originally intended as a showroom for Hargroder’s concrete business as well as a place for the two to display and sell architectural pieces they’d collected over the years.

But since then, Circa has morphed into a bustling arts and architectural center, selling more than just antiques and recovered treasures. It’s now also home to an art gallery, a beauty salon, a café, several gift shops and two women’s clothing stores.

Hargroder and McGlynn met six years ago, while McGlynn, a local attorney, was refurbishing the Old Varsity Building on Florida Street into law offices. Stonewall Products, owned by Hargroder, was laying down scored concrete flooring in the old building. The two started talking and realized they both shared a passion for collecting antiques and architectural salvage, and soon they talked about going into business together. McGlynn called Hargroder back a week later, and the rest is salvage history.

“He said, ‘Dennis, I found us a building,’” Hargroder recalls. “We met one week and were literally in business together the next.”

The two had the building gutted and, with the help of carpenters, remodeled the interior using all salvaged pieces. Old bead board covers the walls. Years of paint have been sanded away, yet not completely, leaving a mere trace of color. Boards from different sources are put together revealing a kaleidoscope of pigments and patterns.

The floor is made of bargeboard. In the 1800s, wooden barges would leave the northeast bound for New Orleans. After the crew unloaded, they would disassemble the barges and use the lumber for construction. Mostly comprised of pine, the bargeboards are one-inch thick planks that have beautifully stood the test of time.

Old sheets of punched tin adorn the ceiling and walls; a mish-mash of ancient tiles add color. Everywhere you look, there is some unique architectural element that catches the eye. The interior design of the store is eclectic for sure but clearly planned out and executed.

Outside, old oak doors stand stacked against the building, wrought-iron fencing lies in piles, tiles from an old, Italian villa exude grandeur from their quiet resting place in the grass and, in a majestic pile, under a tree, lay thousands of hamburger pans from a local bakery. It is truly a graveyard of treasures just waiting to be resurrected and saved.

Sally Conklin, who manages Circa with her husband, Art, said curiosity brings most people in.

“Everyone always tells me they’ve driven by Circa and really weren’t sure what we were all about,” Conklin says. “Once they get inside, they are really blown away by all of the things we offer. It’s hard because we are listed in the Yellow Pages under antiques, but that doesn’t even begin to describe what we do.”

The store’s decor borders along the lines of shabby chic—and it works—for Circa, at least. Most visitors to the sprawling Government Street compound, however, are only looking for one or two unique signature pieces to add to their home or business, rather than engaging in a complete redecoration using salvageable pieces.

To keep a steady flow of one-of-a-kind treasures coming into the store, Hargroder has established relationships with many local importers bringing in pieces from Europe and the Middle East. People in the demolition business have gotten wise to what the store sells, and they keep their eye out for anything they know Circa would be interested in.

But, for Hargroder, it’s still all about the hunt. His job in the construction business keeps him on the road between Lafayette and New Orleans. His three-year-old truck, which he calls his office, already has more than 130,000 miles on it. In his day-to-day travels, he keeps a look-out for junk shops, flea markets and anything he finds interesting. He often stops along the way to pick up unique items for the store.

“Once we got started, it kind of gelled, and there was such an interest we started actively looking for more items,” Hargroder says. “The inventory is constantly changing and evolving. Every visit to the store is different.”

Hargroder, a graduate of Central High School, and McGlynn, an LSU University High Laboratory School grad, both grew up in and around Baton Rouge and share an affinity for old buildings and architectural treasures. A few years ago, the pair started buying up prime downtown real estate, mostly forgotten buildings that were going to be torn down, and renovating them in the architectural salvage style they both love. The result has hel ped resurrect some of downtown’s most amazing buildings.

“We’ve both been longtime advocates of downtown Baton Rouge,” Hargroder says. “Prices started becoming so out of sight downtown, though, so we have started buying in Mid City. It’s our hope that Circa will bridge the gap between downtown and Mid City making Government a really cool shopping street.”