Elliott's Inc.
1019 Main

The Gray Front Restaurant was located
on the south side of the building.

The new restaurant, "The Gray Front" opened on Saturday noon, when the public was provided with the first dinner at the new stand.   The restaurant is located in the south room of the large fine brick building recently completed by Messrs. Williams and Shaw.  The dining room is 24 ft wide and 80 ft long, provided with tables and chairs and a lunch counter sufficient to accommodate eighty people at one time.

The interior of the dining room is finished off in dark colors, and the tables and chairs are finished in mission style.  The silverware, dishes and table linens are new, and it is an inviting place for the public to dine.   This restaurant serves a regular 25 cent dinner, and other meals are conducted on the short order plan.

Williams and Shaw have shown considerable enterprise in finishing up such an elegant building for Goodland and will no doubt be well patronized.

RENOVATIONS

In August of 1909, the furniture store area was purchased by Hugh Elliott.  Mr. Elliott had been employed in local furniture retail sales by Bower and Sons Furniture and Undertaking for 13 years and decided to open his own business.

Over the next decades the business thrived.  The Gray Front Restaurant became the Lyric Theater.

From 1922 till 1925, a basement was dug under the north side of the building using a wagon and a horse named "Doll".  This massive undertaking and the hand-pouring of the concrete floor was done by one Otis Todd.

Elliott’s expanded in the 1940’s and purchased the south half of the building, orchestra pit and all, converting the Lyric Theater to retail furnishings.  Shortly after this main floor expansion, a basement was dug under this south area.

In April of 1948, the first truck was purchased and taken to Omaha to be fitted with a weatherproof box.  At this time the orchestra pit was filled in to create more space.  The hotel was converted into apartments in the early 1950’s.  In 1961 a new facade was installed creating a sleek and modern look for Main Street.

Ernie Elliott is shown taking a movie of the
remodeling in 1961 with Jackie Elliott
supervising.  On the awning from left to right
is Kenny Soellner, Mike Elliott, David Hawks
and Bill Elliott.

ELLIOTT FAMILY

The Henry Elliott family arrived in Goodland in 1896 from Atchison, KS. Henry, his wife Henrietta and son Hugh made up the family.

In 1919 Hugh and Emma Pauline Miller were married in Omaha.  Emma was the daughter of Henry and Carrie Miller, homesteaders here in Sherman County.

Hugh and Emma had three sons, Lawrence, Bruce, and Ernest.  Lawrence died in a plane crash on a training mission in 1944.  Ernest returned after WWII in 1945 and began working in Elliott’s Furniture with Bruce.   In 1946 Bruce moved to California leaving Ernest and Hugh to manage the business.   Hugh remained active in the store until his death in 1956.

Ernest (Ernie) and Ruth Jones were married in 1948 and they became parents of two sons, Mike and Bill, and a daughter, Jackie.

The business has flourished.  New lines of furniture, carpeting, paints and accessories have been added to the inventory through the years.

The business has survived two fires in the building, the last in 1977.  Ernie and Ruth were fully involved in the operation of the business.   Son Mike returned from California in 1985 to manage the store.  Business expanded and in 1990 the building directly north of the store was purchased for a carpet, paint and wallpaper annex.  Bill was involved in the business until he made a career change in 1983.  Jackie has pursued her career in teaching mathematics at Goodland High School.

Ernie was involved actively until his illness and death in 1992.  Ruth remained as bookkeeper until her health failed in 1998.

The Elliott family, with Mike now at the helm, has the distinct honor of being in business for 90 years in August of 1999, as the Sole Proprietors of Elliotts Inc. 1019 Main, Goodland, Kansas, USA.