Market Day in Ellensburg

The large, two story brick building on the right of the photograph was the John Nash Block located on the southeast corner of Main and Fifth Streets. Construction on the building began in 1888 but was destroyed by fire in July 1889. Completed in 1890, the ground floor of the Nash Block became The Big Store similar to a modern day department store. During the late 1890s, the second floor was used as a dormitory for the students of the Washington State Normal School. A large empty lot south of the Nash Block provided parking space for farmers and ranchers to keep their horses and wagons while they tended to business in town. Across Main Street can be seen the Feed Store which first housed the McCarthy & Palmer Livery Stable. This small building became the C. S. Palmer Livery Stable by 1897. During the years between 1888 and 1897, the small wooded buildings next to the livery stable were used for a blacksmith shop, a saloon, a paint store, a wheelwright shop, a carriage house and a harness shop. The photograph was taken in the alley between Main and Pearl Streets behind the Cadwell Building.Postcard titled, Market Day at Ellensburg, Wash. Handwritten note in ink to Miss Anna Holmes, Edmonds, Wash. from Alf. Cle Elum 12/14/1910.https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/ellensburg_history/1053/thumbnail.jp