(bluegrass music) -[Narrator] On the north side of Chadron, at the corner of Main and 1st, sits the Olde Main Street Inn and the Longbranch Saloon, in a building that has been around since the birth of Chadron.

It's had many owners, and seen many guests.

One owner was Evva Gore-Bracken.

Evva came to Chadron in 1946, following a wartime job building planes at the Glenn L. Martin Bomber Plant.

(bluegrass music) There in Chadron, Evva entered into the bar business.

-[Jeanne] One of the ladies in town had a bar on 2nd Street, and she said to mother, she said, "Evva, I want you to come and take this bar."

So mother took that bar, which was the 77 Lounge.

-[Narrator] The 77 Lounge became a hit, especially with students at Chadron State College.

-[Jeanne] The college kids would come in, and we have a T-shirt that hangs on the wall that says, "Working on my degree at Evva's 77," because they would come in, they would sit down in the booth, and get their homework done, and then they'd drink beer.

(gentle music) (gentle music) -[Narrator] The current owner, Jeanne Goetzinger, is Evva's daughter.

She decided to continue her mom's legacy.

As a kid, Jeanne and her sister would help Evva out.

(gentle music) I learned to scrub floors, I learned to clean urinals.

She was tough, you know, she taught us to do it right.

Any job worth doing is worth doing well.

-[Narrator] In the 1960s, Evva purchased another business, this time, a combination bar hotel called The Hub Hotel.

She began renovations, renaming the bar the Longbranch Saloon, and the hotel and restaurant, The Cave.

-[Jeanne] She built all that in, poured the concrete.

The kitchen wasn't the kitchen, it had been the shower for the YMCA.

It was a massive undertaking, and she was brilliant.

Nobody else had ever held two liquor licenses in Chadron, and so she was very, very proud of that fact.

-[Narrator] Her establishment became a place that was accepting to all walks of life, as well as a little bit controversial.

-[Jeanne] She brought in the first go-go dancers.

These people were entertainers, they weren't strippers, and that caused quite a flurry.

It was described as the most uninhibited night spot in Western Nebraska.

And so it was quite a place.

(gentle music) -[Narrator] In 1990, Evva sold the bar and hotel to Jeanne, who at the time, was working at one of the top law firms in Denver.

When I went to work there, my office manager said to me, "How long will you be with us and what will cause you to leave?"

I said, "Well, I'm a mountain climber, and when this mountain gets boring, and I need to climb another mountain, then I'll leave."

And so this was a pretty good sized mountain when I got here.

-[Narrator] And indeed it was, since Jeanne had never run a bed and breakfast before.

Unknown to Jeanne, she would soon come onto a surprising history about this building on the corner of Main and 1st.

(gentle music) On that plot of land, in September of 1885, Peter and Maggie O'Hanlon built a hotel named the Chadron House.

(gentle music) The Chadron House burnt down, but undeterred, the O'Hanlons rebuilt, naming their new building, the Hotel Chadron.

-[Jeanne] The hotel was built four bricks thick on the outer walls.

It opened on August 8th, 1890 with a social ball.

-[Narrator] In 1891, General Nelson Miles was assigned to investigate what would become the Wounded Knee Massacre, choosing the Hotel Chadron as his base of operations.

(gentle music) In 1901, Peter and Maggie decided to sell the property and move west to California.

(gentle music) Two years later, the property would be bought by the Railroad Young Men's Christian Association, where it would be used not just to house rail crews, but also as a recreation facility.

(gentle music) These rec facilities were not just for the train crews, but were also used by the schools within town, one of which would become Chadron State College.

(gentle music) -[Jeanne] The college, when they were looking to put a college in Western Nebraska, they were considering many different places, but there was already a gymnasium here they could use until they could build their athletic facility.

-[Narrator] The Railroad YMCA, likely a casualty of the Great Depression, closed in 1931.

(gentle music) Soon after, the building was bought and changed into the Commercial Hotel, and then the Hub Hotel, from there, Jeanne's mom bought it, and then Jeanne took over.

-[Jeanne] I didn't know it was the Hotel Chadron.

I didn't know any of that history.

Had I known that I would've renamed it the Hotel Chadron.

(gentle music) -[Narrator] When Jeanie learned about the history of the building, she immediately planned to get it added to the historical register.

(gentle music) Soon after this discovery, history walked through her door.

We had a couple walk in our door, and they're looking for the Chadron House.

It's Jack and Barbara Weber, he was the grandson of the people that built the hotel, Peter and Margaret O'Hanlon.

And the grandparents were so proud General Miles took headquarters here, so they wanted to come and see it.

I took them out immediately to the corner of the building, because on the corner of the building is scratched, "J. O'Hanlon", and it's very faint.

I said, "Is this your family that scratched this in the brick?"

And he looked at that and he says, "Oh, that was my uncle, Jack, that's who I'm named after.

He was a rascal."

Then he went two bricks down from that, scratched in the brick is "Anna".

The Ns are backwards.

And he said, "This is my mother, she was dyslexic."

[Narrator] Nebraska's own Dick Cavett was a regular at the Olde Main Street Inn.

-[Jeanne] He did just walk in, and we were swamped, so I took him upstairs.

We had one room left, the General Miles Suite, and he said, "Oh, this is lovely.

It's just like home."

Then I brought him downstairs to get him checked in and he, my mom was walking by, and so she, I said, "Mom, I want you to meet Cavett."

He told me his name was Cavett.

He didn't say "Dick Cavett".

Mom just looked at him, and she says, she just giggled.

And she took her finger, and she turned his head to the side.

She said, "It's Dick, isn't it?"

And he just loved that, 'cause she knew right off.

(upbeat music) -[Narrator] Even today, despite the restaurant portion closing, and the hours at the bar becoming more limited, Jeanne still opens her doors to both old and new friends.

There's Tess and Don Anderson, who had their first date at the Olde Main.

(gentle music) - He was here early, I was so nervous.

I was like, "Ah, why am I nervous?"

I had to grab onto the railing.

It hit me like it was the most terrifying and exciting and thrilling moment where something in my, it is like a thunderbolt.

It hit me and said, "You're gonna spend the rest of your life with this man."

I was like, "That's a lot to put on the first date."

But I went through with it, we had a great time, and we found even more that we had in common.

And that was March 6th, 1998.

(gentle music) And I remember that, because we got March 6th, we got married on March 6th, 1999.

So we got married a year to the day of our first date at the Olde Main Street Inn.

- There's my Bucky, (gentle music) There's my Bucky, aw... -[Narrator] Tess and Don's dog, Buckwheat, who they got from Jeanne, was born at the hotel.

(gentle music) There was Shelly White who got engaged at the Olde Main Street Inn.

-[Shelly] There was probably, I don't know, 10 of us sitting around that table.

And they started giving us the business about, "When are you guys just gonna get together?"

Will, when are you gonna propose?

And he and Jeanne disappeared, and Will came back with a piece of a crystal chandelier on a green bread tie, so he had a ring to propose with, and that was my engagement ring.

-[Narrator] There is Dean Myers, who began as a regular at Jeanne's mom's original bar, the 77 Lounge.

-[Dean] So we went to the 77 to say goodbye to all her friends, and we were drinking, there's no question about that.

And we were in the bar, and we overstayed our time limit, and the bus left town without us, which, I guess technically, I was AWOL before I even got on on a bus to go to the army.

(gentle music) -[Jeanne] So many coincidences here, so many stories, it's just amazing.

(gentle music) - And then I found some sheets... -[Narrator] Jeanne has built a place that is welcoming and accepting to all, a place where good memories exist, and even better friends can be made.

A home away from home.

- Jeanne's has always been a melting pot, and a welcome place for, regardless of what your ethnicity or religion, or preference on partners, everybody's always welcome at the Olde Main.