Before there was a check cashing store on every corner, pawn shops were there to help everyday people make ends meet. If you needed consumer credit in America before the 1960s, odds are you had to head to a pawn shop. And today, most banks aren’t there for that $300 loan to get you through to payday.

It doesn’t look like a medical office, outside or in. The building is set back off East Lamberth in a cluster of trees, and if given only a passing glance, it could be mistaken for a residence. Just inside the front door is the old waiting room. It looks like what it is, or perhaps “was,” as no one uses it much anymore.