Carpenter, cabinetmaker, and lumber dealer Julius Kohls purchased this lot from J. F. Stoer in 1875. Early photographs suggest that this was the site of the famous Leviathan Hall where the longest documented bare knuckle fight (185 rounds) took place between Hugh O’Neill and Con Orem on January 2, 1865. Kohls, whose lumberyard was just across Wallace Street, completed this frame dwelling before 1878 and lived here until about 1920. “Aunt Julia” Elledge, a daughter of Virginia City pioneer Lucien Romey, lived in the home until the 1950s. The T-shaped house with its original picket fence fronting Wallace Street is an excellent example of the rural residential character of Virginia City’s main street and nicely illustrates the evolution of building materials from log to frame.
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