Ramstad Green Light 1956

Ramstad School May 31, 1956 – It was on this day that the construction of the new Erik Ramstad Junior High was given the green light… The total of the bids came to $1,050,273. This included a 60 by 20 foot swimming pool. The contracts went to the following firms: Mattson Construction as General Contractor…. Mowbray and Sons – Plumbing, heating and ventilating…. Main Electric – all electrical…… the school construction was financed by a $1,110,000 bond issue approved by Minot voters…… The site of the original Erik Ramstad Junior High was in Lincoln Park. The school board got the land from the Park Board

 Ramstad after 2011 flood

Chateau Lanes Bowling Alley

This bowling alley was on the south end of Minot. It was located about where Perkins and Slumberland are now. I believe it was a 24 lane bowling alley and the home of many bowling leagues. The bar located inside the bowling alley was The Alley Cat Lounge.

Boris Karloff in Minot

The Jacobson Opera House was host to many traveling theater companies in the early days of Minot. One of those theatrical companies was the Harry St. Clair Company. This group had an actor with them that would one day become famous. That actor was Boris Karloff, best known later in his career for the horror movies he starred in. Karloff spent 60 weeks in Minot back about 1915 when he was acting with the Harry St. Clair Company. They were performing at the Opera House and would have stayed longer but according to Karloff, they ran out of plays. Probably not many people are aware of the fact that Boris Karloff was a life member of the Minot Chamber of Commerce. The award was presented to him in 1957 by J. Warren Bacon of Minot at the television showing of “This is Your Life”,  about Boris Karloff.  A side note, Bacon, then 12 years old often ran errands of Boris Karloff. Bacon’s father was the manager of the Opera House at the time.

Bel Air Addition

In February, 1956 developers were starting to sell lots in the newest Minot Residential District. Bel-Air Addition. The area was just west of 23^rd Street NW and North of 4^th Avenue NW, (at that time referred to as the Country Club Road) ….. the lots were 90 X 100 and the minimum size on houses in the addition was to be 1000 square feet. The price of a lot was $2950.00. this price included curb and gutter, sidewalk, paved streets, sewer and water…. The developer was Lloyd Construction of  Minot.

Jacobson Opera House

The Jacobson Opera House was built by Martin Jacobson, known as “The Hardware Man”. The Opera House had a capacity of 800 people with a stage that was 30 feet by 50 feet. The Opera House  was built in 1902 at a cost of $30,000. The grand opening was on January 5, 1903. The opening play was “The Count of Monte Crisco” attended by over 600 people. Box seats were auctioned off, the highest price paid was $55.00. A note about the curtain on the stage. It contained advertisements and when the show began the curtain was rolled up. The Opera House had the reputation of “the finest west of St Paul”. It was also the home to town meetings, political rallies, dances, parties, school events and other public events. The Opera House was on the third floor of the Jacobson Building. In 1920, the Opera House was used as the Scottish Rote Temple for the Masons.  The Opera House was destroyed by a fire in 1923 and was never rebuilt. The first Opera House was on the northeast corner of Main Street and Central Avenue. In the late 60’s the building was the home of the USO and it is now the home of the Taube Museum of Art.

 Opera House in the early days ... below is the fire of 1923 that destroyed the building

 

Union National Bank

Union National Bank began its existence in Minot in 1905, in the front of the Jacobson Hardware building. The second floor was home to Offices and the Post Office. The ground floor housed Martin Jacobson’s Hardware Store. In 1923 the building, bank included was gutted by fire. Within eight months a new building had been erected on the northeast corner of Main Street and Central Avenue, the same location  as the old building . Union National Bank remained at that location until 1963 when they built a new bank at 17 First Avenue SW. The bank is in the same location but became First Bank and is now known as US Bank. US Bank also has drive through tellers on South Broadway.

 Union National Bank - 1908

 Union National Bank 1923 following fire

 Making room for new bank 19961

 Bank Construction 1961- 1962

New bank - 1962

Jacobson Hardware

Jacobson Hardware occupied the main floor of the Jacobson Building on  Main Street and Central Avenue. The Opera House was on part of the second and all of the third floor. Martin Jacobson, Known as “the Hardware Man”,  started the hardware store after becoming a successful rancher near Des Lacs. In 1898, Peter Fugelso became the bookkeeper of the hardware store until 1901 when he resigned to become the Postmaster. He later resigned as postmaster to join with Martin’s nephew, Doc Jacobson, to purchase the hardware store on January 1, 1907.  The business was destroyed by fire in 1923. The building was rebuilt .  The Jacobson – Fugelso Hardware store eventually moved to the middle of the block just east of the alley on Central Avenue and survived for many years. Jacobson – Fugelso carried a full line of hardware in addition to Schwinn Bicycles, Toro Mowers, Delta Power Tools and Benjamin Moore Paint.

Grand Hotel Fire

The Grand Hotel was completely destroyed by fire o January 27, 1960.  A number of other businesses were also destroyed by the fire. Those include The Triangle Dress Shop and PW Miller Co. Both were next door and the either one may have been where the blaze started. Other businesses lost in the fire were the Grand Barber Shop, Grand Billiard Parlor, Grand Café, Pioneer Bar, Grand Studio and the S&H Green Stamp Store. Another business, in a building to the north of the hotel was Minot Roofing and Cornice. One person stated that he had “saved the day”, referring to his part in the Grand Hotel fire. He maintains that they ran out of beer at the bar located on 1^st street so he made and emergency trip to the Gamble Robinson ware house. Gamble Robinson was across the street from the now Rail Road Museum. Being an employee of Gamble Robinson he loaded up the city delivery vehicle with 100 cases of beer and delivered it to the bar. Well I guess maybe he did save the day?

Grand Hotel

the Grand Hotel, at one time known as the Lexington Hotel, was on the Northwest corner of Central Avenue and 1^st Street NW. The Grand Hotel was built by Olaf A Olson in 1906. An addition was added in 1912, making it one of the largest buildings in Minot at the time. The Grand Hotel had 100 rooms and flourished until it was destroyed by fire on January 27,1960. More than 1000 people turned out to watch the fire. In addition to the Minot Fire Department, men from the Minot Air Force Base rushed to help fight the fire and provide crowd and traffic control. I was informed that one of the fireman from the base wanted to drive the new pumper truck into the Grand Hotel on the Central Avenue level. He was not aware that there were two more floors below the main floor on Central. The pumper truck would have ended up in the basement. The location of the Grand Hotel is now a below grade parking lot on Central Avenue used by the Brady Martz Accounting Firm.

 Lexington Hotel - 1920's

Grand Hotel - 1950's

Valker - Christensen Company

This was a wholesale-retail seed and feed business, operating  one of the largest seed houses in the state, eventually making a specialty of processing and distributing grass seeds throughout the United States and many foreign countries. It was founded in 1920 by George Valker and A. M. Christensen. Christensen, who became sole owner in 1928, came to this state in 1910 as a teenager. He walked from Chicago to his uncle’s farm west of New England, North Dakota and then got a summer job at the Dickinson experiment station. The boy became so interested in his work there that he devoted much of his life to the seed business. Later in his career, he also served as president of the Dakota Transfer and Storage Company and the Minot Building and Loan Association (now Midwest Federal), as well as the Minot Association of Commerce.
This is the same pair who started and office complex that was never finished until Clarence Parker took it over many years later and created the Clarence Parker Hotel

 Unfinished office complex referred to as "The Sparrow Hotel"

The Clarence Parker Hotel in the 1940's

Minot Memories Is Back

Thanks to all my followers for being patient... the Blog was off line for about two weeks. With many emails and about 2 hours on the phone with a Google Rep. named Edgar in Honduras we were finally able to reactivate the website...

1958 Facts about Minot – Site of US Air Force Jet Interceptor Base and Radar Station – Great Northern Freight Classification yard in Minot was the most modern in the nation – The Airport was service by Braniff Airlines Daily and had charter service available – 3 paved highways intersected in Minot – There were 12,173 telephone connections and 8,981 electrical connections with a population of about 30,000. Minot also enjoyed a healthful and invigorating climate…. A fact proven by government records which show only a small percentage of people from this area were rejected for physical reasons in World War II.

Wards Department Store

The building that was home to Montgomery Wards started life in 1933 when construction began. It is on the Northwest corner of Main Street and 1^st Avenue . It replaced two smaller buildings that over the years, housed a lodge hall, a meat market, telephone exchange, a bank, post office, department store, and drugstore, among others. It became Montgomery Wards in May 1934. All floors with the exception of the top floor were used for retail. There was also an automotive repair department on the south side, near the alley. The Greenberg Men’s Store was next door. Greenberg’s exploded and burned in 1947. In 1958 Montgomery Wards added 25 feet to their building, expanding into the former Greenberg’s location. At that time they moved their automotive repair department to 3^rd St Northeast, next to the White Ice Cream Building. The building was known as the Emporium and was owned by James McClintock of Edina, Minnesota. In September of 1982, the building was purchased by local business men and renovated to what it is today

Auto Service Dept on Third St. NE

New Elks Club

Minot Elks Lodge 1954 – The original Minot Elks Lodge #1089 was dedicated in 1909. It was located on the southwest corner of  Main Street and 2^nd Avenue in Downtown Minot. This location is now Wells Fargo Bank. On Wednesday, October 27^th, 1954 the new Minot Elks Lodge opened on 2^nd Avenue and Broadway, about a block west of the original Elks Club. The grand opening events were limited to Elks members only, except for an open house from 2 pm to 8 pm so non-Elk members could see the new building. The Elks Club in 1954 boasted of having about 1750 members and the new building was built at a cost of about $500,00.00.

 Original Elks Lodge

New Elks Lodge - 1964