Depressed commodity prices following the stock market crash of 1929 caused Frank Krob to temporarily lose the elevator, but after a brief period he regained ownership. As the economy recovered from the Great Depression, a 1938 epidemic of Equine Encephalitis swept the area, killing much of the local horse population. This event led the farmer customers of the Ely Elevator to adapt to utilizing tractors and trucks to deliver their grain to the elevator.