Rushville Main Street

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This page features Main Street Views.

Very early 1887 photo of Rushville Main Street! View is from the north, looking south.

The most interesting part of this photo is the Northwestern Hotel at the right edge. I have seen an 1890 photo that includes the hotel, but I've never seen it in any later photos. Perhaps it burned down in the 1890s.

Courtesy Armstrong House Museum of Rushville, Nebraska.

Multiview Postcard of Rushville, Nebraska dated 1908.

This card was mailed to Edna Sullivan at the St Ann's Dominican Academy, Fall River, Mass.

How did this postcard wind up in Massachuset?

At the turn of the 20th Century, Frank Sullivan was a New England area salesman for the Holbrook Paper Co. From 1909 to 1911 he decided to try his luck selling in the developing Western part of the country. Frank's wife had apparently died young and his daughter Edna was enrolled in a girl's boarding school operated by the Dominican Nuns in Fall River, MA. As he travelled through the West, he purchased a postcard in every town he passed through and sent it back East to his daughter. At some point, the post cards she received were given to the nuns of the St. Catherine Convent to become part of their extensive collection. In 2002, the nuns closed their convent and school and left Fall River. This card was obtained from the subsequent auction.

Photos by L.W. Snow

The old wooden watertower wasn't exactly watertight. Detail from Multiview postcard.

View looking north on Main Street. The white building in middle is the old Stockman's Hotel.

A very early photo, showing the Hubbell House. When I saw this photo on eBay, listed as Rushville, I thought it must have been labelled incorrectly... having never heard of Hubbell House. However, the Hubbell House is referenced in a November issue of the 1886 Rushville Standard.

The message on the back of this postcard (postmarked Jan 25, 1908) says, "Here is a view of the main part of Rushville. We have a new large courthouse. You can see a corner of it at the left. Jennie Bell". The courthouse was built in 1904, so this view dates to 1904 - 1907.

Main Street looking south. The gazebo (built 1907) can be seen in the distance (at the intersection of Main and US Highway 20). Picture is from around 1910.

Dullaghan's 1911. Mid-block on the east side of Main Street.

Dullaghan's featured General Merchandise, a pool hall and bowling alley. Compare with recent photo (Prairie's Edge Pawn and old Stockman's Bar). In the 1970s,the shop on the far left housed Huss Jewelry.

Courtesy of Armstrong House Museum of Rushville, Nebraska

Another Main Street photo from around 1910 from the elevator at the north end of Main, looking south.

The school in the distance does not have the addition built on the front yet, so must date prior to 1911. Also note the west end of the depot on the left side of photo. I've rarely seen the depot included in any postcards! If you look closely, there is a whole bunch of people on the rail car.

Another Ray photo taken from about the same time. Once again, the depot is shown in the foreground, just on the other side of the track. The old courthouse is just to the left of center and the new courthouse can be seen at the very left edge of the scene. A close examination of the school in the distance shows that the 1911 addition had been added by that time. Photo would date from the late 1910s to early 1920s.

This is an early view of the west side of Main Street, looking south. To the right is the Stockman's Hotel. The building with the pointed top is now the Pudelko Store (originally the Ben Franklin 5 & 10). I am unsure of the date of this photo, but would be pre-1909.

This photo is the work of famed photographer S. D. Butcher.

West side of Main Street, looking to the northwest. Photo from around 1908 (prior to the 1909 fire). All the buildings to the left of center burned during that fire. Unknown photographer. Image from a litho postcard.

Barnum Livery Stable. Postcard dated 1909. The building immediately to the left is the Stockman's Hotel (see above and below). In later photos of the location, Barnum became a Ford dealer. Almost directly across the street was another livery stable.

Nice photo of the Stockman's Hotel (west side of main, same location of existing hotel). The back of the photo states that the building was later moved across the street from the Ford Garage.

Courtesy of Armstrong House Museum of Rushville, Nebraska

Early view of West Main, looking north. The building on the left is the location of the current Pudelko store and the Stockman's Hotel is to the right. Photo taken 1907.

Another early view of the west side of Main Street, this time looking north. The Stockman's Hotel can be seen down the street, as well as the old windmill.

This photo was labeled as followed: "Old street scene Rushville East side of Main. Morse and Shepard Store and Post Office about 1890".

This is a very early photo of Rushville. According to the Soddies to Satellites book (published 1960), The Morse and Shepard Store was located at the location of the Dairy Queen (mid-block on the east side of north Main). This info hasn't been verified.

Photo Courtesy Armstrong House Museum of Rushville, Nebraska

This is another photo of the Morse and Shepard business (noted as "1885") that shows a building that looks just a little different. In this photo, there is a different building to the right. Also, in the the "Soddies to Satellites" book, there is a photo of the interior of the Morse and Shepard store, but that caption noted "This was one of the pioneer stores on south main street in Rushville." I think this is an earlier location of the store. This is likely the earlier store on south Main.

Photo Courtesy Armstrong House Museum of Rushville, Nebraska

"Buffalo Bill's Wild West Entourage in front of the Asay Store, Rushville, Nebraska, April 21, 1893"

This photo from the Rushville Museum is the definitive proof of the location of the Asay store in the 1890s. The photo has identified Jim and May Asay, as well as Chief American Horse and Chief Red Cloud.

Photo Courtesy Armstrong House Museum of Rushville, Nebraska

Another early view of the west side of Main Street.

The store in the center of the photo is the original Asay Store. Buffalo Bill would recruit Indians from the Pine Ridge reservation for his Wild West Show and pay them in scrip from the Asay Store. The building to the right with the pointed top is the current location of the Pudelko store. To the left of it is a mercantile store and furniture store (perhaps the Grubb store?). Note the large gathering of Indians on the street that day. Based on the fire photo (see below), I would guess that the photo above is pre-1909. All the buildings to the left of the Pudelko building burned in the 1909 fire.

Photo Courtesy Armstrong House Museum of Rushville, Nebraska

February 8th, 1909, the south end of the west side of Main burned to the ground. Five business were lost in the fire... From the Asay building, south to corner.

The fence post in the left foreground has a poster for an event on Saturday Feb 13, 1909.

NEW! Click here for an entire page about the 1909 Fire!

To add to the confusion about the location of the Asay Store, I include the above photo that has this caption:

Asays' Store 2nd and MainSt - facing west

arrow points to J.C. Ward about 1900

Photo Courtesy Armstrong House Museum of Rushville, Nebraska

Parade coming down Main Street. If you look closely along the left edge, you'll note that the Union Annex is under construction. That would date the photo after the 1909 fire and closer 1910 to 1911.

Union Bank (left) and Union Annex (right)

After the fire, new sturdier buildings were built. The above photo seems to have taken soon after the buildings were open for business. I believe this photo was taken prior to 1912, as the 1912 Booster Day photo shows an awning on the Annex building, but it isn't showing above. (or it is after 1912 and a Nebraska wind took it away!) Note the pipes on the ground in front of the bank... perhaps early work on the water system.

Photo Courtesy Armstrong House Museum of Rushville, Nebraska

Nice photo of the Union Bank. Look closely at the window and you'll see a young girl looking out the window.

Photo Courtesy Armstrong House Museum of Rushville, Nebraska

Another view of the Union Bank. This one is earlier than the other two above, as the hitching posts were not yet installed (or is after 1912 when they didn't need hitching posts anymore).

Photo Courtesy Armstrong House Museum of Rushville, Nebraska

Great view of Booster Day 1912. All the proud owners of cars have congregated on Main Street. Great view of the elevator and flour mill at the end of the street, as well as the windmill.

A photo of West Main, obviously taken from the old water tower. The car sitting on the street looks to be from the 1920s or early 1930s.

View of Main looking south from roller mill (see below). The old school can be seen at the left (rising above the haze). Photo taken 1920.

This view of the west side of Main Street is from a detail of a circa 1940 postcard.

While the image is a bit dark, I can make out the following stores (left to right):

1. Cafe was really Paul King's small hotdog stand. My great aunt Fan (Taggart) Thomas worked there at that time.

2. "Taylor Stores Groceries Shoes and Work Clothing"

3. Union Bank.

4. Union Annex. At one time, this held a poolhall and shoe shop.

5. "Ed Garvey Groceries and Dry Goods" is now part of Pudelko's (building with peak)

6. "J C Penney Company", also now part of Pudelko's (previously Cope's store).

The next couple businesses are unreadable, but the old hotel has "Evans Hotel" at the top.

At the far right, at the end of the street is the old "Rushville Roller Mills". Other than the hotdog stand and the Roller Mill, all other visible buildings are still standing today!

West side of Main Street looking to the south (taken from north end of Main, near depot).

The photo at the top dates from around 1950. Note the service station and garage next to the hotel. A closer examination of the postcard reveals that it was a Chrysler/Plymouth dealer and also serviced International Harvester and McCormick-Deering. Also notice the gas pumps were of the old gravity feed type. This photo was taken by Purdy. For comparison, the photo on the bottom was taken in the late 1990s. Most building are the same, except that the garage on the end was removed when the IGA store (Stan Wright's store) was built.

East side of Main Street looking south.

Estimated to be taken early to mid-1940s. The bank building is the old Stockman's National Bank (and no longer there). On the corner is the old Commercial Hotel, but it also has a Wefso Drug sign in this view. Across the highway (in the present location of Stockman's Bank) is Ales Fashion Shoppe. Next to Ales is Peck's Hardware (present location of Hinn's Hardware).

View of east side of Main Street around 1908.

Compare with the 1940 picture below of the same scene.

A better view of the east side of Main Street from around 1910 (note the horse and wagons). Note the third business from the right is the S.S. Connell.

Photo Courtesy Armstrong House Museum of Rushville, Nebraska

Based on the size of the tree in front of the Commercial Hotel, this photo is later than the image above.

Postcard was dated 1915. Photo by Ray

Photo of the S.S Connell saddlery shop (note its location next to the Stockmans Bank, above). The reverse of the photo noted the following:

"Samuel Connell Harness and Saddles Shop. Cyclone- about 1912".

The cyclone/tornado broke out the windows of the shop, as well as the top glass of the bank building. If you look closely, you can see the tin ceiling inside the bank.

Photo Courtesy Armstrong House Museum of Rushville Nebraska

East side of Main Street looking north. Photo taken in 1930s

Postcard view of east side of Main Street around mid-1940s.

The Commercial Hotel on corner became Wefso Drug. The tallest building is the old bank. This view is closer to mid-to-late 1940s because there is a Electrical Shop sharing the Commercial Hotel (which is later). Additionally, the Fairhead's Meat Grocery is newer (and was hanging on the store when Junior Alonzo had the store). Also note that Kitty Edmunds (and her mother) ran the Hotel rooms over the top of the Wefso Drug.

Main Street 1949 Blizzard

This is a detail from a postcard showing the east side of Main. Peck Hardware to the far right. In the center is the building that was originally the Asay store, then Ales Fashion Shoppe, but now appears to house a restaurant (i.e. it has a Coca-Cola sign). The 1949 blizzard was certainly one of the worst on record.

South Main. 1949 Blizzard.

This hardy sole was using his trusty stead to navigate the drifts on Main Street. In the background, Peck's Hardware can be seen.

This postcard photo was taken on South Main, looking north.

I've seen this same postcard with a "Rushville 1956-1957" title. As you can see, Wefso Drug was already in business on the corner (white building), as well as Hinn's Hardware (on the right edge of photo). It is a bit hard to read, but the Huss Jewelry sign can be seen on the left edge. Somewhere after this time, Vern Huss moved his business to the north end of Main Street on the east side of the street. Also of interest is that the old bank building (behind to the left of Wefso Drug) is still standing. By the mid-1960s, the original building had been torn down and replaced with Alonzo's Market.

East side of Main Street.

Wefso Drug is now closed and the town lost one of its main businesses when Shedeed's Hardware burned down in a huge fire about 15 years ago (it was just past the Stockman's Bar, last bldg on the left). When I was a teenager, I worked in Alonzo's Market (in the building next to Wefso's that is now Yoba's Tavern).

South Main Views

This is a view of South Main, looking south along the west side of the street. The photographer was standing in the intersection of Main Street and Second Street (aka Highway 20). To the left of the frame is just a glimpse of the gazebo that once stood in the intersection (built in 1907). The Armstong Department store is in the foreground and the Cash Store is one store to the south. In the distance, the Presbyterian Church (later the Lutheran Church) can be seen. Photo taken by S. D. Butcher.

At left is a vintage view of the west side of Main Street, south of Highway 20, taken by the photographer B. F. Ray.

For comparison, a current picture taken June 2004. The brick building (second from the right), is the Rosa Corder building, which contained a women's public restroom. Rosa was a sister of the Modisett Brothers (frequent benefactors to the Rushville community).

Intersection of S. Main and 4th Street, looking southwest. The house in the foreground was the Larry Dewitt house in the 1970s. The church spire of St Pauls Lutheran church (original building) can be seen at the left edge. Note the dirt street and all the trees. Photo by Ray.

A very interesting photo of the south end of Rushville, likely taken from the top of the old water tower.

A view of the east side of South Main. Peck's Tin Shop and hardware is located near or at the present Hinn's Hardware.

In the background is the church that still stands on South Main.

Photo Courtesy Armstrong House Museum of Rushville, Nebraska

Great view of South Main, looking north.

On the right is Peck's Hardware (future home of Hinn's Hardware). Next door is Ales Fashion Shoppe (future location of Stockman's Bank). When was this photo taken?? The brick facade was added to Peck's in 1939. The cars look to be from the early 1940s. I'd date the photo to be mid-1940s. Photo by Purdy.

Same photo as above, but zoomed in for better detail.

The former Commercial Hotel has a Wefso Drug sign. Bob Wefso moved to that location in 1936. Next door to Wefso Drug is the original Stockman's National Bank. Next to that is Blankenbiller's drug Store.

Zoll Cor. Rushville Neb.

View of South Main, looking north. You can see the gazebo on the right edge in the distance. The house on the left still stands (see photo from 2006). You can see that the door was removed sometime after they built the additions.

Photo Courtesy Armstrong House Museum of Rushville Nebraska

This is the location of the second Asay Store. This store sat on the location of the current Stockman's National Bank (Main and Highway 20).

The above view is looking east. Photo by B. F. Ray.

The original Asay store was located on the west side of Main Street (at the location of the current Union Annex building), which burned to the ground around early 1909 or so. There are also photos of the original Asay store on this site. Back in the days of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, Buffalo Bill would come to Rushville to recruit Indians from the nearby Pine Ridge Reservation and would pay them with scrip from the Asay Store. It is also said that Mrs. Asay would entertain Mr. Cody down on the river while Mr. Asay stayed behind to run the store (such scandal!).

Another view of the Asay Store. This postcard was dated Sept 1911.

This is an earlier view than above... The one above has a power pole which is not present here. Since the card is dated 1911, this photo would have been taken soon after the Asay's moved to this location after the fire. The only thing that lead me to this postcard was that I recognized the building and that it was postmarked Rushville. No photographer was noted.

Sioux Indians at Rushville Nebraska. Detail from Multiview postcard.

Do you have old postcards or photographs of Rushville that you'd

like to share? If so, contact me at hindmanhistory@gmail.com

Click here for courthouse and school views!

Click here for miscellaneous Rushville views!

Click here to see photos of the 1909 Fire in Rushville.

Click here for Farm and Ranch views from Rushville area.

Click here for more recent Rushville photos!

Click here for a short history of St Paul Lutheran Church!

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