Velvet Block

 
J.M. Jordan Store located on corner of St. Paul Street and Columbia Avenue, circa 1900.

J.M. Jordan Store located on corner of St. Paul Street and Columbia Avenue, circa 1900.

Part of the original Township of Rossland, the Velvet Block is a substantial, two-storey, flat-roofed building that marks the entrance to Rossland’s Downtown strip on the corner of Columbia Avenue and St. Paul Street. The lot is sloping, with the back of the building three storeys tall with a business area located in the basement area, accessed by a door on the south side of the building. It is one of the five remaining buildings on this downtown block that dates back to the boomtown period.

McLeod and MacNaughton owned the building originally but did not run a business out of it. In May of 1897, the store “Lockhart & Jordan – Importers and Dealers in Furniture, Carpets and Undertakers’ Goods” operated out of the building. In 1914, E.H.S. Wynn purchased the building but sold it to Mrs. Life in 1918. In 1920, W.K. Esling purchased the building and may have used it for his headquarters for a time during his political career.

 
 

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