I Thought I Knew the History of My Building. I Was Wrong.
When I purchased 443 Idaho Street in downtown Elko, I knew I was buying an old building with a story. What I didn't realize was just how much history was hiding inside these walls—and underneath them.
What started as a simple curiosity about the building that would become Kate Brown Photography quickly turned into a much bigger research project.
One newspaper clipping led to another. One name led to another family. Dates I thought I knew changed. Businesses I had never heard of appeared. And before long, I wasn't just researching my building anymore—I was learning the story of Idaho Street itself.
Before Idaho Street Looked Like Idaho Street
It's hard to imagine today, but Idaho Street was once a dirt road lined with homes.
As Elko grew and automobile travel changed the town, that little residential road became part of the Victory Highway, bringing travelers directly through Elko.
And pieces of that earlier Idaho Street are still hiding in plain sight.
Some of the homes that once lined the street are still standing today. They've simply been converted into businesses, making it easy to drive past them without realizing you're looking at pieces of Elko's residential past.
And Then There Was 443 Idaho Street
My little piece of Idaho Street has gone through its own incredible transformation.
Before the commercial building standing here today was constructed, this property was home to a residence. Families lived here long before customers ever walked through a storefront.
In 1932, everything changed.
The house was moved from the property, and a new commercial building was constructed—the building that still stands at 443 Idaho Street today.
Over the decades, these walls would become home to different businesses and different people, each leaving another layer of history behind.
There was People's Market.
There were Myron and Elsie Beardsley, whose story has become one of my favorite parts of this research.
And years later, there was Fox Foto—a photography business occupying this building decades before I ever imagined opening my own photography studio here.
That discovery stopped me in my tracks.
Of all the buildings I could have purchased, somehow I ended up making photographs inside a building where photographs had been made generations before me.
I'm Still Finding the Story
The more I've researched 443 Idaho Street, the more I've realized this isn't just the history of one building.
It's a story about how Elko grew.
It's about the families who lived along a dirt road, the entrepreneurs who opened businesses as that road became a highway, and the buildings that quietly adapted as the town changed around them.
And I'm nowhere near finished.
Over the coming weeks, I'll be sharing pieces of what I've uncovered—old photographs, newspaper clippings, maps, businesses, families and some discoveries that completely changed what I thought I knew about this building.
Some stories will be about 443 Idaho Street.
Others will take us farther down Idaho Street and into Elko's history.
And hopefully, someone reading along will recognize a name, a face or a building and help uncover another piece of the story.
Because history isn't only found in museums or books.
Sometimes we drive past it every single day.
A special thank you to the Northeastern Nevada Museum and the Bert Family for helping me research and uncover so much of this history—and for helping keep these stories and memories alive for future generations.
Help Me Keep the Story Alive
Do you remember 443 Idaho Street, People’s Market, the Beardsleys, Fox Foto—or another piece of Idaho Street history?
If you have a story, photograph, newspaper clipping or memory connected to this building, I’d love to hear from you. Every little piece helps preserve a part of Elko’s history that might otherwise be forgotten.
Continue the Story
This is only the beginning. More stories from 443 Idaho Street and historic Idaho Street are coming soon.
Coming Next: The Beardsleys & the Building They Left Behind
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