Originally published to facebook.com/NorthPlattePL on May 27, 2022.
Welcome back to another Facebook Friday History!
Last week we looked at the life of Dr. Nicholas McCabe and this week we are the McCabe building. I had originally thought I would post this week about both the building and hotel; however, the post got to be rather lengthy, so I split them up. Next week, we will look at the McCabe Hotel.
The information that follows is from the book “City Bones: Landmarks of North Platte, Nebraska,” Second edition, by Kaycee Anderson and Steve Olson, Published and Funded by the Lincoln County Historical Museum, 2012.
The McCabe Building is located at 400-402 North Dewey Street in downtown North Platte, currently occupied by Good Life on the Bricks.
The Building occupies the northwest corner of 4th and Dewey streets. It is separate from the McCabe Hotel, located to the north. See photographs.
The McCabe Building cornerstone was laid in 1913. The owners of the property were the Picard Brothers and Dr. Nicholas McCabe.
A mechanics lien, filed at the Lincoln County Courthouse on Sept. 13, 1913, describes the building as a brick garage and describes the builder as J.M. Gray.
The building was initially built with space for three storefronts. Some of the earliest tenants included the Bluebird Confectionery; the Sun Theater; and the Style Shop, which had the storefront on the north side of the building.
The west side of the first floor was used for the Hendy-Ogier Ford Garage. The building measured 44 by 126 feet with a pressed brick front and heated rooms. B.M. Reynolds was the architect. The building was built with concrete floors and was considered completely fireproof after construction.
By the middle of the 1930’s, the entire building was occupied by O’Connor’s Drug Store, owned by Walter J. O’Connor. O’Connor also operated the 5 cent, 10 cent & 25 cent Store. O’Connor’s Drug Store included a soda fountain and a liquor store. Eventually, the liquor store became a separate business called, “The Barley Shop.” The drug store was a longtime tenant until Circle-A Ranchwear took over the space in 1976.
In the 1980’s a group of local businessmen purchased the McCabe Building and renamed it Victorian Square. Since that time it has housed several small businesses and is now the current home to Good Life on the Bricks!
Thank you for reading!
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