Welcome to this weeks edition of White Pine: Then & Now!
In this weeks edition, we examine another view of downtown Ely looking to the east, which is very similar to a few others we’ve looked at up to this point. It seems that the area around the former Northern Hotel was popular among early photographers. That said, let’s compare these views from around 1910 and today. Since I don’t know much about early Ely, I will point out the most notable buildings, at least to me, in order to orient the viewer.
In the early photo, the most recognizable building is the previously mentioned Northern Hotel, which looked very much like this when it was lost to a horrible fire in 1964. Not much else in this photo looks the same, much less exists. O’Neill’s bar was replaced completely by what is now Corner Tracks Saloon, while the building across 4th Street is now a parking lot. Partially hidden behind the second utility pole from the left is the Golden Rule, which today is where the lounge half of Mr. G’s sits. The two or three businesses immediately to the west (left) of the Golden Rule were replaced by the Ely Theater. The dark sided building behind the DRUGS sign appears to be the Victory Restaurant, which is still standing today as the Liberty Club. Beyond that, it’s hard to tell what the businesses were, but its safe to say that they were all likely replaced by newer brick buildings.
On the south side of Aultman, to the right of the Northern Hotel is the Riepe Building, becoming today’s Art Bank. (Fun fact: The Art Bank is called such since the building was built as the Ely National Bank in the 1930’s and served in that capacity through a number of owners. When I moved to Ely in 1992, it was the Securities Pacific Bank which was bought out by Bank of America. When Gorman’s Market [now Ridley’s Family Market] built their new store south of town along the Pioche Highway, known as Great Basin Boulevard today, the new store included space for Bank of America, so they vacated their downtown location, eventually allowing it to become the Art Bank.) Continuing east past the Northern, the first business is the Vienna Cafe which became the New Crystal Cafe before closing and operating as a number of non-food establishments through the current day. Beyond that, there were a series of bars and eateries, including a bakery, as well as the local newspaper office. The two tall buildings standing next to one another, which sit on the corner of the next block, are not known to me, but these buildings were removed in mid-1928 to make way for the Hotel Nevada. Beyond that, I cannot identify any of the businesses that were once there, and sadly, not many structures stand along that side of the street today, including any of the original buildings from the 1910 photo.
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