Overview

A small building that would eventually become the toy store of Virginia City was built in 1863 or early 1864 by the team of Robinson, Ford, and Clark, during the busy days of the Alder Gulch gold rush.

In 1865, J. B. LaBeau bought the building for 500 dollars and opened a jewelry shop inside, selling watches, rings, and other small valuables to miners and townspeople.

Early Uses: Jewelry and Medicine

LaBeau ran his jewelry business here until 1870, when Dr. Ira C. Smith, one of Virginia City?s early doctors, purchased the building and used it as his medical office until 1885, treating patients in the same small wooden room that had once displayed jewelry.

This change from jewelry store to doctor?s office shows how frontier buildings often had to serve many different needs as the town grew and changed.

Anaconda Hotel Annex

After Dr. Smith moved out, the building took on new roles and eventually became known as the Anaconda Hotel Annex, providing extra space and rental rooms connected to the nearby Anaconda Hotel (today?s Fairweather Inn on Wallace Street).

For many years it continued to be used as rental property, showing how even a tiny structure could adapt to different needs as the town changed from a mining boomtown into a quieter community.

The Boveys and the Toy Store

In 1948, preservationists Charles and Sue Bovey bought the old annex as part of their larger project to save Virginia City?s historic buildings and turn the town into a ?living ghost town? where visitors could experience the nineteenth century.

That same year, the Boveys recreated a toy store in the building, adding a front porch to help protect its classic Greek Revival?style façade with its simple doorway and trim.

They stocked the windows and shelves with old?fashioned toys, dolls, and games, many based on real nineteenth?century items, so that children and adults could imagine what shopping for toys might have been like over 100 years ago.

Why the Toy Store Matters Today

Today, the Toy Store building still stands on Wallace Street as one of Virginia City?s smallest historic storefronts, helping tell the story of how a single structure can serve many purposes over time?jewelry shop, doctor?s office, hotel annex, and finally a playful store where history is shared through toys.

For students, it offers a fun way to learn about frontier life by seeing the kinds of playthings children might have enjoyed in the past, instead of modern electronic toys.

Credits

Special acknowledgements go to local historians and preservationists whose work has helped record and protect the history of the Toy Store building and Virginia City.