On this date in 1929, the Bismarck Tribune announced that a new building in downtown Mott was to begin construction. It would house a theatre and a JCPenney store. James Cash Penney opened his first store in 1902 in Wyoming. In 1914 he expanded, opening three North Dakota stores in Fargo, Wahpeton and Grand Forks. Fargo, population 14,000, was the largest community to have a J.C. Penney store. Penney preferred smaller towns for his stores, which served mostly farmers and ranchers.