After the mines closed in Gold Run, local entrepreneur Paul Webber moved his business to Auburn and began by purchasing a building on Lincoln Avenue. The first businesses to open there were two saloons and three dry goods stores. Years later, Webber’s daughter Bertha married another local business owner, Earnest Burns. Burns and his partner Robert Wise started the General Gomez Cigar Factory, one of the most successful family-owned cigar factories in the area. Over time, the buildings along Lincoln Avenue housed many successful small businesses, including furniture stores, pharmacies, hardware stores, restaurants, and saloons. For over 150 years, family business has been the heartbeat of downtown Auburn and has helped keep the community thriving and industrious.