Courtesy of Matt Liverani
Welcome to this weeks installment of White Pine: Then & Now!
The original photo, taken October 4, 1921, was taken from the edge of the original railroad grade as it left Ely. The downtown was still very sparsely populated, but growth is evident as seen by the nice wide main street with sidewalks in place, the road has been improved greatly over the original wagon road that once occupied the path. On the right, you can make out the Lincoln Highway Garage as indicated by the GARAGE sign hanging over the road just above the center of the photo. Just
beyond you can see the side of Campton Commercial, but the photo is too grainy to see any of the businesses beyond that. On the left hand side of the road, I don’t know what the businesses are and the poor quality of the photo makes picking out other buildings near impossible.
In the current photo, taken December 21, 2023, the fi rst thing the you can see is that the road appears to be off. You’d be correct in saying that, but there is a good reason. In the early 1920’s, the state and the Lincoln Highway Association began upgrading the highway which ultimately led to the road being straightened out and
crossing the original Nevada Northern mainline tracks right behind where I am standing by 1924. The driveway for the West End RV Park (just out of frame to the left) is roughly where the highway is in the 1921 photo. Moving into town, we see the Lincoln Highway Garage is still standing, though has given way to KRM Auto, which
took over the long closed E-Lee Ford dealership. Campton Commercial is also still standing, now as Wilson Bates Furniture and the building has been clad in a pastel green steel shell.
Also visible in the current photo is the Hotel Nevada, which was still about 7 years away from starting construction in 1921. The Northern Hotel, which is hiding behind the Campton Commercial in the 1921 photo is now gone. Amazing how much has changed in just over 102 years yet how much has really stayed the same.
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