The first Sinclair to be in business in Hannaford was A. M. Sinclair. He purchased the stock and merchandise of E. H. Groven in March 1891, and operated a general store. In 1899, he erected a store building toward the south end of Wheat Street for a mercantile business. By 1900, his advertisements included furniture, undertaking supplies and insurance. The Hannaford State Bank was organized in the spring of 1902, and this and a drug store operated by H. A. Langlie were in the Sinclair Building.
W.D. Sinclair and W. N. Olmstead bought the firm of A. M. Sinclair in 1904. They were undertakers and embalmers and sold farm machinery and furniture. The summer of 1936, the Sinclair Building was destroyed by fire. At this time it also housed the post office and Spenningsby's Cafe. Rubbish removal began soon after the fire and a building was built in its place. Ludvig Hareland was the contractor. This new building housed a grocery store on the south side of the building and a cafe on the north. The cafe was called the Green Lantern Cafe and was operated by Clarence Spenningsby. As the years went by the cafe was operated by many different people including Joe & Regina Meyers, Oscar Strommes, Vernon & Ruby Christianson, Mr. & Mrs. Severson, Orlando & Phyllis Palm, Kermit & Oscar Ashland, Edna Markuson, Mae McCallsen (Mae's Cafe), Grace & Vernon Broten, Adolph Haugens, Jerry Lyngby, Lou Almklov (Metro Cafe), Bette Hanson and Maurice & Judy Haugen. When Maurice Haugens closed it in 1970, it was not reopened.
After Sinclair rebuilt the building, the grocery store was operated by Swanke and Mohardt. It was called the C & D Market. Hjalmer Standahl also operated it at one time. When Edna Markuson was the proprietor she called it the Highway Market. John (Bud) Grover owned it for a number of years and then Edna Markuson again until her death in 1968. Maurice and Judy Haugen were also the last to operate a grocery store in the building. They started in the store after Edna died and continued until the summer of 1970. The building was unused until 1975, when it was sold by Jennie Sinclair, widow of W. D., to Jerry and Patty Ferguson. They remodeled the building for a recreation parlor on the south side and a small shoe repair shop on the north. It is now known as Patty's Place.
Source: Hannaford Area History North Dakota Centennial 1889 - 1989 Page 25