Courtesy of Matt Liverani
Welcome to another installment of White Pine: Then & Now!
In this weeks edition, we are once again in the town of McGill, looking to the southwest, circa 1925. On the extreme left of the original photo, you can just make out the businesses that lined the east side of the street, which for the purpose of this comparison I won’t describe. Moving to the other side of the street, which coincidentally is also the Lincoln Highway by the date of this photo, the most prominent building is the McGill Commissary which housed a grocery store and a cafeteria. To the left of the commissary is the US Post Office which moved in to the building after the Copper Club closed due to Prohibition. Next is the Cyprus Hall, which is home to the McGill Club with an attached barber shop between it and the post office (not seen). The next building is the movie theater which was built in 1925. There is a visible gap between the theater and the next building due the automobiles hiding the two store fronts that are located there. I don’t know what those businesses were at that time. Last but not least is the Nash Storage building which later became Standard Market.
In the current photo, taken February 9, 2025, the only real change physically to that block aside from paved streets is the absence of the commissary building, which had closed in 1955. From what little information I have been able to gather, the building was likely demolished between 1958 and 1960. The post office is still there and still operating, as is the McGill Club. The barber shop is now home to both a hair salon and a nail salon. The theater has been closed for more than 30 years although there was an unsuccessful attempt to renovate and reopen it in the last few years. Like the theater, Standard Market closed its doors more than 30 years ago although there are no current plans that I am aware of to reopen or repurpose the building.
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