The original site of the 1888 Bellevue Hotel at the corner of Front Street
and Sunset Way became home to a Ford dealership, Hepler Motors, in the late
1940s. The last standing portion of the hotel was removed and a new concerte
three-bay service area was added to the brick building. Lee Hepler sold
the business on his 60th birthday, and the dealership continued as Foothills
Ford, Eastage Motors and Malone Ford before it was demolished following damage
suffered in the 1965 earthquake.
