In 1934, Julio Astoriquia and his wife Maria Astoriquia used their hard-saved money to buy two lots on Main Street in Hailey and build the Rialto Hotel. Julio had emigrated from the Basque region of Spain to the United States in 1913 and worked as a sheep herder until after World War I, when the sheep industry suffered heavy losses that continued through the Great Depression. The Rialto Hotel was the first Basque-American owned business constructed on Main Street in Hailey and became significant as an example of important commercial development there during the Great Depression. Before the 1930s, Basque residents and businesses in Hailey had been located on River Street, south of the red light district or houses of prostitution. Local building contractor and later Hailey mayor John M. ("Jack") Rutter arranged a mortgage of $11,900 with Julio Astoriquia to cover the costs of the Main Street lots and the building's construction, then supervised work that began in August and was completed on November 22, 1934. The hotel prospered enough that the Astoriquias paid off the mortgage by 1938. The Astoriquia family owned the Rialto Hotel until 1973, making it the longest-operated Basque boardinghouse in Blaine County. The building later served as a bar and restaurant for several more years, was renamed the Hailey Hotel in 1980, and is listed on the National Register of Historical Places.