Ellensburg's downtown core is a remarkably intact late-Victorian commercial district, built in brick and sandstone in the year after the 1889 fire and changed very little since. Pearl Street is the spine; cross streets and alleys hold restaurants, the old Davidson Building, and the Geddis Pharmacy.
A walking tour leaflet from the visitor centre points out the highlights — the Cadwell Building, the J.C. Penney building, the bell tower of the old fire station. The Clymer Museum and Gallery, devoted to local Western painter John Clymer, anchors the south end at 416 N Pearl.