Although the Sandpoint Hotel building was owned by Ignatz Weil, it had long been the home of William Abbott’s saloon. Abbott, better known as Billy, was a well-known businessman in Sandpoint. He was in his early thirties when he came to town around 1903. Within a short time, Billy joined forces with Mr. Branson to open a restaurant and saloon in the recently completed Sandpoint Hotel. Although the firm of Abbott & Branson failed by early 1905, Abbott continued the business on his own. He occasionally got creative with his advertising. For instance, in late 1905 he installed an outdoor sign depicting a camel carrying a jug of whiskey, standing in front of pyramids. “A camel can go eight days without drinking,” the sign read, “but who wants to be a camel?” Billy clearly was a popular man about Sandpoint. When he returned from a trip in September 1907 with his bride, Helena, friends gave them an enthusiastic reception and the local band serenaded them at the Sandpoint Hotel well into the night. It didn’t hurt Billy’s popularity when he dusted the cobwebs off several old bottles of liquor that had been stored in his cellar and generously shared them with the well-wishers. It was harder to counter the forces pushing for prohibition. In a hotly debated special election in May 1910, Bonner County voters approved a local option to end the sale of alcoholic beverages. Before the new law went into effect on August 23, 1910, Billy Abbott held a sale on the remainder of his booze. Billy Abbott announced plans to build a large brick building on the corner of First and Bridge. The building had a full basement and three storefronts on the First Avenue level. The corner space was to be Abbott’s new saloon, with the other two spaces a restaurant and a movie theater. Work continued into 1913. The new saloon held its grand opening on February 1, showing off the barrels of wines and liquors along the north wall, opposite the forty-foot oak bar that was salvaged and refurbished from the fire. There was a well stocked wine cellar in the basement