Rice Brothers & Adams Building

The Rice Brothers & Adams building at 136 N. Main is the only commercial building in town that is on the National Historic Register. This large building is the most noticeable building on Main St and takes up nearly half a block, the other half of block mostly occupied by the Myrtle Theater (also built by the Rice Brothers).

The original owner of the building, James Rice, needed a larger store and warehouse than the building which housed his first grocery & dry goods store (located up Main Street). Mr. Rice had been one of the first settlers in the area and initially was a farmer. His farm was located next to the Chieftain and Continental gold mines. The superintendent of the Chieftain told Rice that, if he would start a grocery store, the mines would purchase all of their supplies from him. Therefore, he started a store in 1900.. By 1913 he had grown out of the first building and moved to a larger building.

But he still felt a need for a large warehouse in addition to the store so he could store supplies through the winter. He took in a partner, Henry Adams. Harry Rice, his brother, also decided to join the venture. The Rice brothers and Adams designed a building to meet the needs of the community. This was a concrete poured structure. They framed in the walls and poured the concrete by hitching the horses to a scaffolding which held one wheelbarrow filled with concrete. The horses then pulled the scaffolding up and down the sides of the building to pour the concrete. A lot more about this building can be found in the City's Historic Inventory.

Photo 1 Rice Brothers and Adams Building c.2007, in need of some repair

Photo 2 Rice Brothers and Adams Building about 3-5 years after construction