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Aldrich Automobile Company
- 213 W 4th Ave Ellensburg, WA 98926
In mid-1909, the Aldrich Automobile Company was established by Harry E. Aldrich, who was proprietor and manager, and his brother Hoyt Aldrich, on West Fourth Avenue in an old blacksmith building. The business provided a mechanical department, and handled the Reo, Mitchell, and Stoddard-Dayton automobiles.
By early 1910, the building proved insufficient for their needs and they worked with the property owner, William Taylor, to demolish the structure. Marshall A. Dean, a local contractor and partner of Dean & Mackie Engineering Co., constructed the new brick structure located on the west side of the alleyway between North Main Street and North Water Street along West Fourth Avenue, with ground broken on March 28, 1910. The new auto garage reached completion on July 22, 1910, and Aldrich Auto Company found themselves quickly at home in the large structure with gabled fronts, large windows, and each of the four storefronts having an independent entry.
In late 1910, the Aldrich family decided to relocate to Los Angeles later and the garage building was sold to Alfred Reynolds, who owned and operated the Reynolds Motor Company, which sold and serviced EMF 30 and Flanders 20 automobiles. In July 1913, the Reynolds garage installed a public service gasoline supply station on the sidewalk in front of the business. Soon after, the Reynolds Motor Company relocated to its newly constructed building on North Pearl Street, which today is occupied by Sears.
In 1919, the building was home to automotive supplies, a veterinary surgeon, and Central Machine Works which was owned by Samuel Luther Smith who created and patented the Bear Bicycle. Since then, businesses in the building have included: Fulton Construction Co., J. Riley Hartzog auto repairs, Dolquist Motor Sales Inc., Harry Sims Hudson Automobiles Sales and Service, Kelleher Motor Co. body shop, J&B Tractor and Equipment Co. Inc., Ellensburg Auto Parts, and more.
Today, the building is home to Café C5 and Ellensburg Vapor.
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Camoxxy Williams Garage
- 600 N Main St, Ellensburg, WA 98926
The Camozzy & Williams One-Stop Station was built by local contractor, Ernest W. Ames, for Milton Camozzy and George Williams to house a tire repair shop and tire sales department, gas pumps, washing and greasing racks, and a wheel and rim department. Their business had originally opened on September 9, 1925 at 316 North Main Street, but with the increase in business they sought a new location.
On July 15, 1929, the new station opened at 600 North Main Street with over 2,000 visitors in attendance for a dance and special celebration. The building had cost about $15,000, with much of the construction was locally sourced with companies including the Tum-A-Lum Lumber Co., the Ellensburg Lumber Co., the Modern Plumbing Co., and the Puget Sound Power & Light Co.
After long-time use as a service station, the building has been home to a variety of businesses including a market. Today it is home to Ellensburg Pasta Company and Bruce’s Place.
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Elmira Building
- 115 E 4th Ave Ellensburg, WA 98922
Wilbur Wheeler Fish, a major property and business owner in Elmira, New York, was very interested in expanding his dry goods business in the Pacific Northwest. He was enticed to the City of Ellensburg by word of the prosperous growth – arriving in the community on April 25, 1889, and in less than two weeks secured interest to build two buildings along Fourth Avenue.
His first building was to be built adjoining the Masonic Temple at Fourth and Pine. An architect by the last name of Love was contracted for what would become known as the Elmira Block. After the Great Ellensburgh Fire of July 4, 1889 occurred, the Elmira Block was one of the first buildings listed as “underway before the fire, and now in the process of construction.”
The first businesses located in the building were: a harness and saddlery shop; a music, stationary and jewelry store; a candy store and factory; and the New York Store, a dry goods and grocery store. The second floor was occupied as the Elmira Hotel, and the hotel offered first class lodging, dining, and had parlors which could be rented by groups.
In 1899, the Elmira Hotel was noted has having been closed for so long a time was reopened. By 1901, the building and hotel became known as the Vanderbilt, for the owner Jeremiah “Jerry” Vanderbilt. In August 1902, Vanderbilt added a bridge to connect the Albany Hotel in the Davidson Building to his hotel; this was later removed when the Washington Motor Coach Company needed use of the alleyway. Over the years, several different individuals operated the hotel but the name remained as the Hotel Vanderbilt until it became the Vale Hotel circa 1940. After the closure of the hotel, the second floor stood vacant until the recent rehabilitation project brought the second floor back to life, and it has since been occupied as offices.
Since the early 1900s, the first floor of the building has been home to a wide variety of stores, including a paint, oil, and wall paper shop; an early Chinese restaurant called City Café; groceries and meat markets; Wells Fargo & Co Express; restaurants, cafes, and a bakery; a beauty school; sporting goods; and much more.
Today the building is home to The Mule, Young T&Tea, Central City Comics and Care Net Pregnancy Center of Kittitas County.
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Pearson Building
- 323 N Main St, Ellensburg, WA 98926
Sven Pearson, or “Samuel” as he was also known, was a leading businessman who had immigrated from Sweden and settled in Ellensburg to operate a saloon in the mid-1880s. In early 1908, Pearson arranged for a grand building to be built upon his lot on the southwest corner at West 4th Avenue and North Main Street, which the site was known for being the original second building site in Ellensburg. The Ellensburg Dawn newspaper published on October 30, 1908 that “Sam Pearson will have on of the finest brick blocks in the city when completed, in fact it would be a credit to a much larger city than Ellensburg.”
The first businesses to reside in the building were Willis & Manners’ BAZAAR, owned and operated by E. A. Willis and George Manners. Since the mid-1910s, the building has housed a wide selection of businesses, including shoe repairers, grocers, Puget Power & Light Co., drugless physicians, and a series of cafes. By 1949, one of those cafes was taken over by the long-existing Palace Café which had started business in 1892 and had been located in a number of spaces throughout Ellensburg. Owner Ted Wicks relocated the Palace Café into the Pearson Building, where the business thrived. Wicks then sold the business to Marshal L. Remelin a few years later. Remelin sold his business to Ted and Agnes Bugni in 1966 and it has remained in the Bugni family hands since. Over the time the Palace Café has been in the Pearson Building, it has been able to expand and utilize every inch of the building, providing great food and customer service.
The second floor became home to the Elks Lodge, which had been chartered on March 18, 1908. After the Elks relocated in 1923, the second floor became home to the Kittitas County offices of the Federal Bureau of Reclamation. Today, the second floor is home to a variety of artist studios.
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Ellensburg Daily Record
- 401 N Main St, Ellensburg, WA 98926
In the summer of 1915, J. Clifford Kaynor, owner and editor of The Evening Record, had a building constructed on the northwest corner of North Main Street and West 4th Avenue. This new building would house the offices of the newspaper reporters and staff, and the printing equipment of The Evening Press which provided not only the printed newspaper but publishing services for local businesses.
The business itself, as the Evening Record, had been established in July 1909, when Kaynor and his former business partner William S. Zimmerman acquired the Ellensburg Localizer. The Ellensburg Localizer was one of the oldest newspapers in the community, having been established in 1883. As the newspaper grew in both staff and subscription as Kittitas County’s only daily newspaper coverage, the location in the Localizer Building at 311 North Main Street was no longer sufficient and a new site was found nearby.
The building was a rectangular-shaped building that featured a terracotta block face. Large pane windows accented the two street faces, along with transom windows above the panes. A central entry door on the corner was posed at an angle, allowing visitors to enter. Other entry doors provided access for staff and reporters to come and go as needed.
In 1937, the newspaper became known as the Daily Record.
In the 1980s, the building was extensively remodeled with a brick façade, parapet decoration, large windows, and recessed entryway. At the transom level, small decorative tiles were added. Despite the façade changes, the building’s purpose has always remained the same – as the home to our local newspaper.
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The Lynch Block
- 104 W 5th Ave, Ellensburg, WA 98926
In late 1888, construction began on the ornate building known as the Lynch Block. Located on the southwest corner of North Pearl Street and West 5th Avenue, this building was constructed by John Nash. Patrick Lynch, the owner, wanted his building to be one of the most ornate buildings and spared no expense, with the building costing a total of $20,000. Brick was shipped in for the 60-feet by 120-feet building, and the four large plate glass windows, each measuring 7-feet by 12.5-feet, were delivered by the Northern Pacific Railroad. The windows were known to be the largest shipped into the region at the time, and had a cost of $12,000. Atop the building were distinctive finials that gave the building a very notable look in Downtown Ellensburg.
The building opened for business right at the turn of the year. The first floor had two storefronts, which were quickly occupied by H. A. Gotzian, a seller of boots and shoes; and W. A. Privett, who sold musical instruments and jewelry. The second floor was leased out by the operators of the nearby Johnson House Hotel for 20 “spacious and airy” rooms.
When the Great Ellensburgh Fire occurred on July 4, 1889 and the fire roared toward the building from the point of origin, only a shift of the wind saved the Lynch Block from devastation. It was one of only a small handful of buildings that survived that night, and the only one that still stands to this day.
In the 1920s, the building underwent a modernization with the removal of many of its architectural ornaments, like the onion-shaped finials along the roof and its triangular tin motif. The building underwent a major restoration project by owner Scott Repp in 1977.
Today the building is home to Pearl Street Books and Gifts, Flirt, and 425 & Company Salon.
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McCormack Building
- 200 E 4th Ave, Ellensburg, WA 98926
Dr. Jay H. McCormack, who was both an Ellensburg specialist for eye, ear, nose and throat care and Kittitas County physician, had arranged for a building to be built on the southeast corner of 4th Avenue and North Pine Street. He announced his plans on September 29, 1938, which called for the construction of a 60-foot by 120-foot one-story concrete and steel structure that would be completed in just 80-days.
Plans called for 60 feet by 65 feet with a main entrance at the corner of 4th and Pine, for a store that would be occupied by West Dependable Stores and designed to their specifications and requirements. West Dependable Stores shared the space with Ray’s Market. A notable feature of the building design for the store was an electrical tower over the entrance, which would rise 22-feet over the roof and would be seen from anyone along 4th or Pine Street.
The east end of the building would be occupied by Dr. McCormack’s clinic. McCormack shared the space with Dr. Raymond O. Loy, a dentist. In the mid-1940s, McCormack and Loy sold their practice and Dr. Ralph R. Pinckard took over the space, offering family medical services for the community, which continued until the late 1950s.
Between the medical clinic and the store, was a space measuring 18-feet by 40-feet which was occupied multiple businesses. The first known businesses in there were the Cinderella Beauty Shop and Phillips Jewelry Store.
Other stores since those days have included various realty offices, McKnight’s Music Co., The Watch Shop, Coast-To-Coast Hardware Store and Singer Sewing Machine Co., Morgan Music & TV, the Christian Science Reading Room, Modern Photo, Fourth Avenue Pet Shop and later Green Gem Tropical Fish & Pets, Four Winds Books, The Fishing Hole, MacDonald Photography, and now DeVine Wellness and Relaxation.
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Kelleher Motor Company
- 602 North Pearl St Ellensburg, WA 98926
Kelleher Motor Company was founded in 1911 by John “Jack” Kelleher, and originally located in the B. F. Reed building on Main Street in Ellensburg, this company is one of the oldest family-owned Ford dealerships in the nation. Jack Kelleher had immigrated from County Cork, Ireland in 1893, settling first in Idaho, before arriving in the Kittitas Valley in the early 1900s, where he became involved in several businesses before becoming involved in a bicycle dealership that offered public auto service and then became a Ford dealership as automobiles arrived in the community.
As the need for space grew, Jack purchased the current location at 6th and Pearl Street and relocated the growing business there sometime in the mid-to-late 1920s. The dealership showroom was located on the northeast corner, where it currently is, along with a repair shop to the north. On the northwest corner lot, he had built the Keller Super Service Station which offered full service and gas for automobiles, but by the 1940s, this service had ended as the business overall focused more on vehicle sales and service.
On December 7, 1985, a fire occurred at the Kelleher Motor Company building, destroying the showroom, the service and parts areas, and business offices. Customer vehicles that had been left for service were also damaged.
Less than a year later, on October 11, 1986, the current showroom was opened. The building was designed as a 6,000-plus facility with a 7,200 square foot service facility. Mrs. Colleen Kelleher and David Wheeler developed the floor plan and design of the building, and O’Brien Construction Co. of Hermiston, Oregon drew the building specifications. It was constructed by D. M. Stellmon of Coeur d’Alene. With the building rebuilt, it allowed for Kelleher Motor Company to continue the tradition of serving the transportation needs of families in the Kittitas Valley.
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Webster Hotel
- 100 W 3rd Ave, Ellensburg, WA 98926
In August 1909, construction began on a two-story brick block on the corner of Third Avenue and Pearl Street. Frank Groger and James Clark, owners of a local brewing company, had contracted George A. Knox to build the structure on the site of a barber shop for the cost of $13,000. The building was completed by September with interior work finishing up in the months that followed. The Majestic Hotel opened its doors in mid-October 1909, offering 30 furnished rooms, decorated in either salmon or green décor; and all with natural light, hot and cold water, and furnace heat. Shared restrooms and baths were at the end of the building.
In early 1911, Frank Groger opened a restaurant in a room on the first floor of the building, and by 1913, Groger purchased the building outright, having it remodeled both interiorly and exteriorly. That May, Groger contracted Peter Garvey to add a third floor to the building; Garvey also merged two rooms on the first floor into a lobby which contained a fireplace and modern elevator. The hotel was then known as the St. Regis Hotel, and stayed under a variety of managers until it was sold to William F. Webster in July 1937 becoming known as the Webster Hotel.
On January 29, 1980, around 10:30am, the building caught fire in freezing weather. With temperatures remaining below sub-zero, it took more than a day before the last nozzles turned off, leaving the smoking building a palace of ice. The Webster Hotel building would remain covered in ice for quite some time, and ultimately be demolished in spring 1980. At the time of the fire, the building was owned and operated by Rex Rice. After the demolition, a new building was construction on the site.
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Blumauer-Webb Building
- 305 N Main St, Ellensburg, WA 98926
Leopold Blumauer and son Samuel arrived in the community of Ellensburgh from San Francisco in 1877 and established their business, L. Blumauer & Son, a general merchandise store. When the Great Ellensburgh Fire happened on July 4, 1889, the fire swept around the city and many buildings laid in ruins. The Blumauer-Webb Building was one of the very few that survived the fire fairly unscathed. The building became known as the Webb Block overall and was home to multiple businesses including the Palace Restaurant (now known as the Palace Café).
In the next decade, the building was home to a real estate and insurance office, law offices, and a barber, as well as the first home of the Ellensburg Cycle Co. The building was purchased by William F. Webster sometime in the mid-1930s, and the building became known as the Webster Apartments Building for its use.
On February 6, 1986, an electrical systems failure sparked a fire that spread through the crawl spaces and false ceilings, smoldering away in the building before the building broke into flames. The roof collapsed and the interior was left a waterlogged and charred mess. The fire had also jumped into the third story of Fitterer Furniture, where quick work of the Ellensburg Fire Department saved that building.
The Webster Apartments Building was left so damaged that renovation was not an option. Instead, demolition occurred. A beautification project was launched, giving the space some murals and dedicated fencing that honored Ellensburg and Kittitas County’s past – much like the almost 100 year old building had, which had previously graced the site.
Today, this site is vacant still but utilized as a private parking lot.
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Ellensburg Foundry Building
- 421 N. Main St, Ellensburg, WA 98926
After arriving in Ellensburg in 1906, blacksmith Alvin C. Busby became employed by Alfred H. Kay who owned the White Front blacksmith shop at 419 North Main Street. After working for several years, Busby purchased the business by 1913 and had the older wooden building torn down and replaced with a larger brick structure. The new building became home to his business which offered blacksmithing services, horseshoeing, and both wagon repairs and making. As automobiles became commonplace, the A. C. Busby Blacksmith Shop offered auto spring repairing, auto tire setting, and electric and acetylene welding for a wide variety of projects in addition to manufacturing automatic coal stokers. Busby was also patented four of his creations: an improvement to the centrifugal machine (in partnership with W. H. Hedden), a hobby horse, a metallic bar bender, and a tire holder. He later became partners with his son A. Glenn Busby and Alvin remained in the business until his death in 1945. After that, the business continued in the building until 1975 when it relocated out of Ellensburg. Since then, the building has been used for a variety of retail purposes and business offices. It is currently occupied by the Ellensburg Business Foundry.
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Collins Building
- 118 E 4th Ave, Ellensburg, WA 98926
Charles Ludwig Collins (1848-1922) was a clothing store owner who decided to build a new two-story structure on his lot on the corner of Fourth and Pine in early August 1910. He had originally come to Ellensburg in 1889, established a men’s clothing store and lost it in the Great Ellensburgh Fire of July 4, 1889 only to re-establish the business immediately afterwards. He contracted George A. Knox (1866-1913), a noted local builder who was responsible for the construction of multiple downtown buildings between 1908 and late 1912. Knox laid the foundation in early September and brickwork was laid beginning in October 1910. James Claydon, a local engraver and seller of monuments, was then employed to cut a stone bearing the inscription “Collins Block 1910”; the stone was from the Tenino Sandstone Quarry and measured 3-feet by 5-feet. The sidewalk was laid beginning in November 1910 and completed in early December 1910 by neighboring building owner B. A. Maxey; while plasterers were busy at work in the interior. The building reached completion in late December 1910, and Collins was comfortably settled in his block by January 5, 1911. By the end of 1911, the Postal Telegraph Company leased the east front room next door to Rose & Inman’s Chapel, opening on January 1, 1912. Collins retained operation of his clothing store until 1921, when health required him to no longer personally conduct business and the store was operated by John Caton.
After Collins’ passing, the building was sold, and by 1931, the building was extensively remodeled by the Fulton Construction Company to house the J. C. Penney’s store. After their relocation to the former Greyhound Depot at 5th and Pine, the Collins Block became home to a number of businesses including Ostrander Drug Co. and Moser’s Clothing Store.
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Ellensburg National Bank Building
- 420 N Pearl St, Ellensburg, WA 98926
The Ellensburg National Bank Building, also known as the Brick Bank Building, was originally built circa 1888. The building was built as a two-story structure for the bank and other offices, with a basement and original vault. It survived the Great Ellensburg Fire of July 4, 1889 and offered banking services until financial failures around the Panic of 1893 and subsequent closures forced the company to close in 1893 and again, but permanently, in 1896.
In March 1930, the National Bank of Ellensburg purchased the building, under the majority ownership and direction of Oscar A. Fechter. Soon thereafter it was announced that the property was intended to be utilized as the new home of the National Bank of Ellensburg
This bank ultimately failed during the Great Depression, closing its doors and falling into receivership of Thomas A. E. Lally of Spokane who was then charged with the sale of the bank property and assets in the mid-to-late 1930s. The City of Ellensburg purchased the building in February 1938.
The City of Ellensburg retained the building until 2005, when it outgrew the space and moved to North Sprague Street and North Anderson Street.
The historic building then was purchased by Mollie Edson, former mayor of the City of Ellensburg. The building became home to Ellensburg Community Radio and over time a number of different retailers. Currently, the building is home to Pretty Fair Beer and Ellensburg Community Radio!
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