A look back at the McLaughlin building part I

By Bri Brasher 
with Leonard Cash
NLJ Reporter
 
The McLaughlin building, once situated on the corner of Summit Street and the Weston County Library, housed many Newcastle businesses and offices in its time, including the courthouse and the Occidental Hotel. Cash said the building sat on Main Street across from the post office in what is now part of the library lawn in Block 8, Lot 7.
While the exact date of the building’s construction is unknown, reference to the building and its owners dates to April of 1890. Cash’s records indicate a lawsuit between the National Cash Register Co. and I.H. McLaughlin. Details on the reasoning for the lawsuit are limited, but Cash said that National Cash Register came out on top. A man by the name of James Walsh also filed suit against McLaughlin. Cash thinks the building could have been built by this time, and the trouble was likely due to finances. Cash thinks Ellis and Co. and McLaughlin may have been partners at some time because Ellis and Co. is reported to have built the building and initially owned it. He added the Kilpatrick brothers likely funded the project.
A June 18, 1890, article in the Weston County Democrat indicates that Ellis and Co. allowed John Handel to rent space in the Ellis building for his taxidermy business. “John now has more accommodating quarters to make a display of his handiwork in the taxidermy line,” the Weston County Democrat says. The Newcastle News also reported in its July 3, 1890, issue, that “the McLaughlin boys were still building away in the rear of the building to be occupied with a hotel.”  
Then on July 9, 1890, the Weston County Democrat also announced the first “talk” of Mr. A. Murphy opening a first-class hotel in the new building—the Occidental Hotel. 
The next reports in Cash’s records are dated July 10, 1890, in a reference to the Lien Record Book, page E, indicating a charge of $180.58. The charge dealt with McLaughlin Drug Co. and Ellis and Co. Cash said Ellis and Co. built the building but did not own it for long. The Ellis Drug Store went bankrupt, and Cash suspects the money was a bankruptcy charge. The business and building were purchased by the McLaughlins. 
Charles F. Davis and E.G. Johnson moved their law office into the McLaughlin building, according to a July 24, 1890, article in the Newcastle News. The same article also announced that a sign was put up at the new building and the McLaughlin Drug Co. was touching up the front of its brick block with bronze green. A few months later on Sept. 13, 1890, the Newcastle News reported that the McLaughlin Drug Co. passed into the hands of E.H. McLaughlin, who was likely a relation of some sort and part of the company, according to Cash. “All of the best proprietary medicines can be found at this (establishment) and drug and toilet articles in great abundance. The prescriptions are compounded by a skilled physician,” wrote the Newcastle News. 
Cash’s records from the local news on Oct. 9, 1890, state that the building was veneered brick block on the northeast corner of Warren Avenue and Sumner. “This is a fine block fronting 25 foot on Warren Avenue and 140 feet on Sumner Street. It contains the spacious drug store of the company, the Newcastle Hospital, F.R. Gumps law office, Ed Stack saloon, and the Occidental Hotel.” While it is no surprise that the section of “uptown Newcastle” is referred to as a block in Cash’s records. Cash explained that the block was just a larger building that housed many businesses. Cash added that a liquor store and offices were also in the building at its inception, along with Dr. Moorhead, who Cash said was the first doctor in the Newcastle area. He is buried in the cemetery on the west side, according to Cash. 
On Oct. 31, 1890, the Newcastle News reported that the Occidental Hotel changed hands, because Mr. Murphy was retiring. A Mr. Consgrove of Grand Island, Nebraska, was said to be taking the helm. Yet another change in the year 1890 was announced on Nov. 14 by the Newcastle News. The paper reported the following: “We understand the McLaughlin Drug Co. have sold their fixtures and stock to a local merchant and will discontinue the drug business. The store room will be occupied by the firm for other business.”