Downey and his chief partner, M. D. Crawford, built the Central Hotel at Venable and Front streets (now La Reina and Firestone Boulevard). T. J. Carney was hired to act as innkeeper, John Dolland was clerk.
The new business center grew from the northwest corner of Crawford and Front Street (Downey Avenue and Firestone).
Then Caleb Crowell moved his general store from the College Settlement (at Paramount and Alameda) to the new business hub.
Of note was the purchase of a lot on Front Street by Aunt Millie Rice in 1874. She opened a hotel and ran it for more than a decade before moving to her ranch on Foster Road to the west of town.
The Southern Pacific built a fine railroad depot here in 1888, described as one of the finest outside Los Angeles.
The town gained a certain notoriety it later tried to forget when Benbrook and McGaugh opened a saloon, called the Benbrook, near the corner. It soon became popular with transients who drank and played cards in the evenings.
This continued until an impatient community passed an initiative in 1905 banning the sale of liquor (long before prohibition).
E. M. and Samuel Frankel, brothers, bought at the southeast corner of Front and Crawford and relocated their family store from its old Gallatin location. It was a substantial two-story brick building. They were followed by several other businesses that moved from Gallatin.
Albert Horton became famous for his wagon which sold goods to the farmers in the more remote parts of town.
William Dickenson produced handmade tin cans and other hardware from his store at Second and Crawford. Later his location was occupied by Bertrand Drug Company and Elton Waller’s appliance store.
And in 1875 the north portion of the same lot became Downey’s first post office.
The city’s first newspaper, "The Downey Review" began printing in 1885. It was run by Jim Rives.