Town & Country Shopping Center

Snuggled up to a major highway, a hilly chunk of ground which many people though useless, was transformed and there emerged, in 1963, Minot’s Town & Country Shopping Center. In 1968 a sign proclaimed Town & Country to be the largest shopping center in North Dakota. The cost of building the center in 1963 was about $1.8 million. When it opened, Town & Country had 16 businesses operating. I recall working at the JJ Newberry Cafeteria and later at Piggly Wiggly in the mid 1960’s. I also remember Town & Country as a gathering place and full of activities. One of those in 1966 or 1967 was a Battle of the Bands. Below is a picture of the area before T&C Shopping Center was built. The first picture is looking south on Broadway. T& C Center would be on the left. The second picture is looking north from above the current site of First Western Bank... T&C Center would be on the right