Shepard's Jewelry Store/ Bush Building

Title to this property was transferred to Lyman N. Huggins on August 31, 1907. A 1911 photograph shows the A.W. Adams Real Estate and Insurance in a frame structure. A circa 1917 photograph shows the Shepherd’s Jewelry Store here. This building was built by Clarence Bush a year or so after the building to the west. The storefront was constructed to match the existing Bush building. Using the same brick and patterns gives the entire four-lot structure the appearance of a single building. Mr. Bush said, “I will not be satisfied until the south side of the square is built with a long line of large substantial buildings.” The stairway to the second floor on the west side is part of the original Bush building. It provides access to the upstairs apartments, which were occupied until 2005, and the dance hall next door. Both entrance doorways have original, small hexagon tile floors that are largely intact. Early in it’s history, the Minidoka County News operated here, publishing their weekly paper which was delivered by mail, and was eagerly read and extensively quoted. It was an important source of information for Rupert before the days of TV news. “A standing joke was that a copy was regularly read in ‘the John’ by all members of a particular Chicago medical fraternity between 1934 and 1935.” The building later housed Fricke’s Fabrics, followed by Horton’s and The Rose, both photocopy and T-shirt shops. The Playa Azul, an authentic Mexican seafood restaurant, opened in 1994.