Ely Post Office – 1938-2024
Welcome to this weeks edition of White Pine: Then & Now!
In this weeks edition, we visit the Ely Post Office which was once located downtown at the corner of 5th and Clark Streets. The original photo is hard to date due to the low quality of the image as well as nothing in the photo that can definitively identify the year. However, I believe it was taken shortly after it opened for business. Constructed in 1937, the building opened for use January 19, 1938 and remained in operation until 2002. While a new post office had been built in 1999, the downtown post office remained open as a satellite facility until it was decided to consolidate operations at the new building.
In the current photo, we see that the building has remained largely unchanged with the most visible change being the entry. In 1977, the original entryway and steps were removed and replaced by a more modern aluminum frame storefront type entry with new steps and a handicap ramp as part of several accessibility improvements. Although the building closed as a post office in 2002, in October 2003 the building was offered to the city and the county who ultimately declined to take it over. On October 7, 2005, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Hotel Nevada purchased the building and remodeled the interior into a small convention center now known as Postal Palace, opening for business December 15, 2005.
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