The Juneau Motor Company, 11 Egan Drive, is situated on the corner of Egan Drive and Main Street at the base of Telephone Hill on Block F; Lots 7-8.
The company moved to this site in 1935 from the former dock site of Alaska Coastal Airlines located across the street. Elroy Ninnis became president of the Ford dealership that year after working for the company since 1924 (Ninnis 1983; Juneau Empire 1954).
Lots 7 and 8, shoreline property prior to fill operations in the 1920s and 1930s, were the early sites of the Pacific Coast Steamship Company and Wells Fargo Express offices.
Richard F. Lewis and Grace Lewis owned the lots from the turn of the century until the early 1950s (City of Juneau 1901-1951).
R.F. Lewis came to Juneau in 1894, practiced law until 1952, and owned the Juneau Water Works (Lewis 1938-44). He was among a group of Alaskans who lobbied successfully in Washington, D.C. to have the state capital moved from Sitka to Juneau.
T
he original Juneau Motor building on Lots 7 and 8 was destroyed by fire in 1964. The present buildings were constructed in 1965 (Ninnis 1983). Capital Motors Supply, 47 Willoughby, was established in 1958 and is owned by Juneau Motor. Joseph Ninnis, son of Elroy, became president of the company in 1963.
The Juneau Motor Company and Capital Motors Supply consist of rectangular, one-story structures and two storage sheds. The dealership's main building has a sales showroom, parts department and a service department. The low-pitched gable roof is situated over concrete-block walls covered with vertical aluminum paneling and aggregate siding. The building includes large showroom windows.
The Capital Motors Supply building, measuring 50 1 x90 1 with a floor area of 4,192 square feet, consists of a 20 1 x20 1 retail department, a 711 x50 1 warehouse and an ll 1 x23' wood shed addition housing an office. The building has a flat roof with an aluminum-siding -cornice, steel and concrete framing, and painted concrete-block siding.
The rear of the building is covered with painted, corrugated metal, and the wood shed addition has vertical wood siding. The building's floor and foundation are poured concrete. The floors and foundation are concrete. Both one-story storage sheds have corrugated-metal siding.