Cook County News Herald

Down Memory Lane




10 Years Ago · Oc t. 15, 2001

After months of negotiations that involved even the highest officials in the state, Cleveland- Cliffs Inc. and Minnesota Power have finally reached an agreement with LTV Corporation to acquire the assets of LTV Steel Mining Company in northeastern Minnesota for a total of $87.5 million. The deal was finalized Wednesday. Cleveland- Cliffs said it would also make approximately 3,000 acres available to the IRRRB for future development of industrial projects.

The new bus stop in Grand Marais is about 150 feet straight east of the old location. Leng’s Soda Fountain & Grill is the new site for the Happy Times bus service. After many decades, Jackson’s Café, now closed, is no longer the pick-up and drop-off spot for bus travelers and freight.

20 Years Ago · Oc t. 14, 1991

A design concept for the controversial Sawbill Trail reconstruction project, calling for a gravel surface, all-weather road engineered for 45 mph traffic, was approved by the Cook County Board of Commissioners last week. It will be a nine-ton road with 12-foot lanes. The design was a compromise reached the week before at a marathon meeting of a committee appointed last March after Cook County’s original plans for the road ran into a storm of protest. That earlier plan called for construction of a blacktop-surfaced road designed for 55 mph speeds, requiring wider and deeper ditches, and more cutting down on the curves and hills. Environmental groups alleged the higher-speed road would destroy the character of the trail, which leads from Tofte to Sawbill Lake, an entry point for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

A proposal that Cook County take over the lower (southern) portion of Maple Hill Cemetery was approved by the board. The cemetery was established in 1897 to 1899. A number of persons have said they want to buy lots in that portion of the cemetery, but no one has the authority to sell them. The north half of the cemetery is owned by the Congregational Church and is filling up.

50 Years Ago · Oc t. 12, 1961

Excavation began this week on the lots just east of the Ogema Realty Co. office, facing the harbor where Mr. and Mrs. Carl Nunstedt are erecting a new restaurant and living quarters. The property was acquired from the Ogema company. The building will have the living quarters on the second floor. Mr. Nunstedt plans to complete the second-story rooms first so that the family can move in, and the restaurant will be completed by next spring.

A group of people were watching the sun set on Little Clearwater Lake Friday when, suddenly, three sharp lines appeared in the sky and large circular objects of a gold color seemed to drop to the earth. “It was the strangest sight,” said Mrs. A.H. Savage.

Mr. Magne Amdal has retired from county highway work, and Mrs. Amdal, too, has left Mabel’s Café, where she has been working since 1944. The couple recently enjoyed a drive around Lake Superior.

90 Years Ago · Oc t. 20, 1921

Alfred Fenstad of the Lake Shore Telephone Company has been spending the week in Grand Marais. He is having the numerous wires in the village replaced by cables which will do away with crossed wires after the storms. Also the sound of many voices known as “cross talk” will be done away with.

Smith’s Store will have a new collection of phonograph records and needles on the Sunday night boat. The latest and best music.

The Midway Garage has installed a new gasoline pump which is an attractive adjunct to their filling station.

The young people of this village who are interested in ice skating are requested to see Henry Lindskog and help make a skating rink.



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