Courtesy of Matt Liverani
Welcome to another installment of White Pine: Then & Now!
In this week’s edition, we are taking a look at the intersection of Great Basin Boulevard (formerly known as Pioche Highway) and Aultman Street. In the original photo, taken no earlier than 1963, the first thing one notices is the old arch over the road welcoming motorists to Ely, while the other side of the arch welcomed folks to East Ely. Pioche Highway was the dividing line between Ely and East Ely until the two towns combined in 1978 after the closure of the mines in Ruth. I’m not sure when the arch was installed, but according to at least one local that I spoke with, the arch was gone by 1973 after falling victim to being hit by a truck. Behind the arch on the extreme left is the Hilltop Court Motel, and to the right of that was the Pick and Pack Market, Sagebrush Bar and Hilltop Drug. On the far right of the photo, you can just make out part of the Richfield sign that marked the location of Junction Motors and Cafe. Also of note is the flashing caution light seen above the arch and the Jeep Wagoneer instead of a normal traffic light. Also at this time, US 93, US 50 and US 6 all met at this intersection with all three highways joining and going south along Pioche Highway. Visible just under the arch on the mountain in the background is the iconic WP, standing for White Pine County.
A lot has changed in the 60 or so years since the original photo was taken. As mentioned before, the arch is long gone as is the Hilltop Court and the shops behind it. The motel and stores were demolished in the early 70’s to make way for Safeway, who built the existing building in 1973. According to the county assessor’s records, the building was added onto in 1990 on the north end. Today, C-A-L Ranch owns that building. Junction Motors closed many moons ago and the building is now owned by C&C Carpet. The flashing caution light has been replaced by a traffic light and US 6 no longer runs through town after the highway was relocated, known by locals as The Bypass, about one mile south of this intersection, leaving US 93 and US 50 as the only two highways here. Unfortunately, the white sign to the left of the Great Basin Boulevard sign on the traffic light hides the WP on the mountain behind it.
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