The Yerxa store was established by W.A. Yerxa in 1875. W.A. Yerxa was one of Fargo's pioneers and one of its first mayors. The store was originally called Goodman & Yerxa. Peter Goodman was Yerxa's partner until 1882 when the Goodman family moved to Sheldon, Minnesota. Yerxa bought Goodman's interest in the store which became W.A. Yerxa and Company. The store was located on the southwest corner of Broadway and NP Avenue.

Thomas E. Yerxa, brother of W.A. and born February 24, 1851 in New Brunswick) came to Fargo in 1878. He clerked for Goodman & Yerxa for two years and then moved to Pembina to open his own chain of stores. In 1884, Thomas sold his stores, moved back to Fargo, and and bought W.A.'s interest in the Fargo store. Thomas divided the store into four departments: dry goods, clothing, boots and shoes, and groceries. The store employed 25 people. Some of these, e.g., Issac "Ike" Herbst, worked at the Yerxa store before opening their own stores.

The Yerxa's were public spirited and sponsored the establishment of the Yerxa Fire Hose Company No. 3, on December 7, 1883, captained by Fred Putnam.

The store, also known as Yerxa's Wigwam, was spared from the fire of 1893. The advertisement above for the Wigwam is formthe 1883 Fargo City Directory.

The image below is from the June 7, 1894 edition of the Argus; scan courtesy of the North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies. On the left side of the image, to the southwest of Yerxa's, one can see the Headquarters Hotel.