The building was initially proposed as a three-story business block, although a decision was made during construction to open the upper floors as a hotel.

In February 1906, Joseph E. Stevens[1] and G. L. "Tex" Rickard, prominent businessmen from Goldfield, Nevada, visited Ely and became convinced that it presented profitable opportunities for them.

[10] The frame of the third story was installed in August 1906, with the lower floor expected to be ready for occupancy in the early half of September.

[5] On September 29, 1906, during construction, the unfinished building was used as the site of a ball to celebrate Railroad Day and the new Nevada Northern Railway.

[7][13] On October 5, 1906, Rickard, Stevens, and Elliott announced that the building would be used as a hotel, and that it would take five weeks to complete and furnish.

[15] Furnishing began at the end of November 1906, with some additional work on the structure still needed ahead of its opening.

[16] That month, the Northern Hotel Company was incorporated with a capital stock of $125,000, split between five partners, including Rickard, Elliott, Stevens, and Ely resident Thomas Rockhill.

[7] In August 1913, a bar employee drowned to death in the hotel's basement after he and several men were sent down there to salvage a large collection of alcohol and cigars from an incoming flood caused by a cloudburst.

[7] In 1923, The First National Bank of Ely moved back into the Northern Hotel, occupying the northwest corner of the building's ground floor.

[22] In March 1928, Elliott announced that he had purchased Rickard's interest in the hotel, giving him complete control.

[26][27] The hotel briefly reopened in September 1934, to accommodate delegates attending a state Democratic convention.

[22] The hotel received a modernization in 1957,[7][21] which included the Northern Bar reopening in the space previously occupied by the bank.

[7] That year, the Nevada State Journal wrote: "Even today residents of Ely can startle visitors with the statement that 'Tex Rickard built the Northern'.

[13][27] A local resident who went missing after the fire was ultimately discovered to have died after search crews found his body a few days later in the hotel rubble, which measured up to 15 feet high in some areas.