John Hume was one of the very first businessmen to operate in Nelson, partnering with Bob Lemon in a general store which originally operated out of one of the two tents which, along with a shack dispensing mining supplies, constituted the Nelson Business District in 1888. Bob Lemon was an enterprising entrepreneur who opened general stores where ever a mining camp sprung up in the Kootenays.
At the corner of Vernon and Ward Streets, the Hume has accepted guests nearly continuously for 115 years and recaptures its reputation as a luxury hotel. Much changed over the years, particularly after its sale by its second owner Wilmer C. Wells to hotelier George Benwell in 1912, it appears very much
unlike it once did.
The
now photo was taken from across the intersection of Ward and Vernon Avenues, looking southwest.
The Hume Hotel occupies Number 58 on the City of Nelson's 2011 Heritage Register.
The hotel itself has posted a very complete article on the building.
The original photo was taken sometime in the '50a, well before the building on the right foreground appeared. Photos are taken from the median in Vernon Street, looking generally east.