C. R. van Vleck residence, undated. C. R. Van Vleck was the owner of the Jackson Mercantile. The Van Vlecks arrived in Jackson in 1906 from Colorado where they had previsouly operated a mercantile. Roy Van Vleck's residence and barn were located 135 E. Broadway. As of 2013 the house still exists. The house, now occupied by a restaurant is regarded as one of the few original residences in the downtown area. It was, however, moved about 35 feet to a new foundation after an interior fire in the 1980's. The residence was constructed in 1910 and its associated barn somewhat later. The house was the first in town to have its own private water well. The building was used as a residence, first by Van Vleck and his wife Gertrude Genevieve and later by their daughter. Van Vleck in addition to operating the Mercantile was a founder of the Courier and in 1931 a weekly newspaper,The Grand Teton opposing expansion of the Grand Teton National Park. He was regarded as one of the "Three Musketeers" (Van Vleck, Will Simpson and R. E. Miller) in the fighting to keep all of Jackson Hole from falling into the grasp of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. The house was later occupied by Jedediah's House of Sourdough and as of 2013 by Café Genevieve. The barn narrowly escaped destruction when it was apparently left off a list of significant historial buildings within the town. The barn has now been moved. The barn was used in the Clint Eastwood movie Every Which Way But Loose. Pack train in front of Jackson Mercantile, 1920's As late as the late 1920's some ranches, particularly in the Gros Ventres north of town were not accessible by motor vehicle. The Mercantile moved out of the Clubhouse and into its own building in 1918. Among items sold in the Mercantile was "a complete line of caskets." Deloney General Store, Approx. 1918. The earliest mercantile establishment in Jackson was Charles DeLoney's Store. The store during the period it was operating went through several incarnations, from a log structure to a brick building. One of the early DeLoney stores on north Glenwood is now occupied by the Historic Society museum. Deloney Garage, approx 1918 the Garage at present day 145 W. Deloney was constructed in 1916 by Charles Deloney (1837-1925) as an automobile garage. Initially it was intended for storage of automobiles over the winter when they could not be used. The building measured 50 feet by 100 feet and had cement floors throughout. It housed a machine shop with an Oxy-Acetylene welding plant. Power to run the machine shop came from a four horse-power Chusman Engine which in turn powered an Electic geneator which furnished electricity for the garage, the store, and the houses of Charles Deloney and his son Hyrum W. Deloney, and lit a street light in front of both the garage and the store. An air compressor was available for filling tires. Upon the building being completed it was used as a blacksmith shop. Out front was pump at which filtered gasoline was available. The siding on the garage was galvinized steel sheets in a faux stone pattern popular at the time. Deloney came to Wyoming as a tie contractor for the Union Pacific. He ran the first tie drive on the Green and Bear Rivers. He was, however, financially hurt as a result of the Panic of 1869 and moved to Evanston where he operated a saloon and barbershop. He father-in-law, a devout member of the L. D. S. Church disagreed with Deloney's operation of the saloon. Deloney, however, ultimately converted. He acquired various properties in Cokeville, Jackson's Hole and Ogden, Utah. He served two terms in the State Senate. At the time of the Spanish American War he was appointed as Superintendent of the Forest Reserve which resulted in his move to Jackson from Evanston. In 1918, Walt Spicer and the Curtis Brothers opened a Ford agency in the building. The Curtis Brothers had previously operated a Ford Garage in conjunction with the Kelly Mercantile Company further up the valley. Spicer and Curtis was a family affair, Walt Spicer was married to Ruby Curtis. The brothers primarily involved in the operation of the garage were Lewis, Vernon and Ushel. In 1920, Spicer and Curtis moved to the Wort Livery Barn. Over the years the DeLoney garage later housed Chevrolet and Kaiser-Frazer dealerships. Later it became a bowling alley owned by an owner who allegedly felt that Jackson did not have enough culture. In the 1970's the building became the Pink Garter Playhouse. The Pink Garter became "Diamond Lil's" and later the Jackson Hole Playhouse. Pink Garter Playhouse The Jackson Hole Playhouse and the neighboring saloon has been "guadified" in order to make it appear more western. Indeed, it's outside decor has a similarity in appearance in one's imagination to a French house of ill repute. On the corner of present day Deloney and Cache was the Jackson Hotel. Next door to it on Cache where The Local Grille is now located was the Jackson State Bank. Harry Wagner, cashier of the Jackson State Bank standing in front of the bank with his dog Muggins, undated. Wagner served as the first mayor of Jackson when it was incorporated as a town in 1914. The bank subsequently moved to a small building owned by the Crabtrees to the west of the Crabtree Hotel at what is now known as the Crabtree Corner. In 1936, the Bank moved from the E. Broadway location to North Center Street where it has remained ever since. The bank had the distinction of being one of only a few that failed to close when President Roosevelt ordered all banks to close in March 1933. The bank later became part of a bank chain and was sold to Wells Fargo in 2008. Jackson Hotel. To the north of the Jackson State Bank was the Jackson Hotel. Prior to the founding of the Reed Hotel, it was the only hotel in town. Behind the hotel was a feed stable abd kater a bkacksmith. Originally the hotel was a small log structure. Sometime around 1905-06 the logs were covered with a brick veneer and a wing added to the back. The hotel when through various operators changing ownership about yearly. It was owned at various times by Charles Wort, Lorin Loomis (who almost immediately began running ads in the Courier that he wanted to trade the hotel for other property), J. P. Nelson who traded the hotel to J. P. Cunningham for Cunningham's ranch. Cunningham in turn sold the hotel to J. L. Eynon. Cunningham then repurchased his old ranch. Background Music this Page: "West of the Great Divide" as recorded by Henry Burr for the Victor Talking Machine Co., 1925. Next Page: Jackson continued.