Have you ever been to the Army surplus store? In our recent then and now segment on North Division (see our previous post), our historical photo had a two story brick building in the background. It turned out that the building was the Army Surplus store on the corner of Buckeye and Division. Long ago, this building had apartments above and the Corbin Park Grocery and Market on the main level.

Built in 1905. Permits for the building were taken out by Nicholas Ney after he purchased the property from J. J. Browne, the same J.J. Browne for whom Browne's Addition is named.

Ney built the Army Surplus, which was then called the Ney Apartments, and then later, he built a small home nearby, and eventually a service station.

The same year he built the Ney Apartments, Ney was a victim of a shoeless burglar who made off with his pants and $40. The burglar then got into a shootout with Spokane police. Ney slept through the robbery and later said “if he had awakened, the burglar would have blown my head off and I wouldn't give it for $40.”

Ney was robbed again years later at his home near the Army Surplus building. This time the burglars ransacked his home, but instead of running off with his money, they stole his vacuum cleaner. 

Before he arrived in Spokane, Ney purchased farmland near Wilbur, Washington. As he advanced in years, he started hiding his money in gopher holes out on his farmland. Spokane newspapers reported he thought he found all of it. Maybe? 

A fight over his estate eventually granted funds to local Catholic institutions that Ney favored, like Saint Al's Church and the Knights of Columbus. 

Long after McNay died in 1934, his building became home of the Army Surplus Store.

Watch the episode on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/shorts/V8fl112gXSA?feature=share