Each of the three downtown Grand Marais buildings that were destroyed by fire on Monday, April 13 had a lot of history behind them. Grand Marais historian Eugene (Gene) Glader was happy to provide information from his first book “Downtown Grand Marais” about the history of these fallen structures.
Picnic & Pine Building
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Picnic & Pine building, which was owned by Beth and Tim Kennedy, was known as Andy’s Pool Hall.
According to Glader, “In May 1935, Mrs. Agnes Jackson, started a restaurant in the back of the pool hall. Agnes was married to Archie Jackson, who was the brother of Helen Jackson, who owned Jackson’s Cafe next door.
“In August 1935, George Brisson purchased the business, and it became Brisson’s Pool Hall. With the change in ownership, Mrs. Magne Amdal was hired to take over the restaurant in the rear of the pool hall.”
The American Legion took ownership of the building at some point and later sold it to Bruce and Sue Kerfoot in 1985. The Kerfoot’s moved the Attic Gift Shop from the Common Ground building into the new space, with Bette McDonnell managing. In 1986 Bette McDonnell purchased “The Attic” business and the building from the Kerfoots. Bette sold the business and building to Tom and Barbara Rawitzer in 2005. The Rawitzer’s, in turn, sold the building to the Kennedy family.
The Crooked Spoon
According to Glader, “The Crooked Spoon Café opened in August 2006, in the building that since 1924 had been known as Jackson’s Café.
The transition from Jackson’s Café began in 2005 when Jim and Jackie Larsen purchased the café from Esther Jackson. After extensive remodeling of the building, they leased the space to Nathan and Sara Hingos, who opened the Crooked Spoon Café in August 2006.
Here is what Gene Glader has to say about the transitions the building went through over the years:
“The history of the café goes back to August 1, 1923, when Helen G. Jackson purchased from Louis Falk the 120 feet of the lot on which the café now stands. It is reasonable to assume that Helen began construction of the first phase of the cafe shortly after that. Part of the rationale for this view is the fact that Helen borrowed $3,510.00 from the Grand Marais State Bank with the lot as collateral on August 1, 1923. In addition, I found no evidence of a building on the lot prior to 1923 and following the 1908 fire that destroyed all buildings on the south side of Wisconsin Street between First Avenue West and Broadway.
“There is some evidence that Helen’s father, Fred Jackson Sr., assisted her in getting established in the café business. At the time, he was operating a small café called Jackson’s Confectionery in a small building in the back or north end of the lot Helen had purchased. He had opened this business in August 1915, in a building he was renting from Louis Falk. Fred discontinued his confectionary and cafe venture when Helen opened her café.”
In about 1926, Jackson’s Café also became the Greyhound Bus stop. A year later, Helen added an area to the back of the building that was to be a small theater that would hold about 20 people. The theater never came to be, and the added space became part of the expanded café.
In 1939 Helen’s brother, Fred R. Jackson Jr., and his wife purchased the restaurant from the estate. In 1946 they leased the café to Mr. and Mrs. Frank Roesener, and one year later, they leased it to Mr. and Mrs. Frank Barnard.
In the 1970s, Jackson’s Café became the county location for purchasing licenses for vehicles, boats, and trailers…. About the year 2000, the Happy Times Bus Company of Thunder Bay transferred their bus stop to the Blue Water Café. Years earlier, the Greyhound Bus Company had discontinued service to Grand Marais. In about 2003, Esther closed the café because of failing health. Her husband, Fred, had passed away in the mid-1980s.”
White Pine North building
According to Jim Larsen, Ruth Soderholm built the White Pine North building in 1921, and operated a women’s retail and variety store. At some point, she sold the building to Ed Humphrey.
In 1933, Ed called his brother Milford, who had just graduated from Wheaton College with a degree in chemistry, and asked if Milford would like to move to Grand Marais and open a Photoshop in part of the building.
Milford accepted the offer, and the two brothers split the store with Ed’s clothing on one side and Milford’s Photoshop on the other side. Upstairs was Milford’s darkroom.
They even put in a dry cleaning service upstairs for a while, Jim said.
Ed split off and built a larger clothing store across the street, a building which now houses Sivertson’s Art Gallery. After 40 years as the sole owner, Milford Humphrey sold the business and building to Jim and Jackie Larsen in 1975.
“We thought we would only be there for a short time,” said Jackie, with Jim adding that they had made a lot more money working in the Twin Cities. “I didn’t understand the business came with a floral shop,” Jackie said.
Jackie took classes and learned the floral business, selling flowers for 18 years until Heidi Sobanja purchased the flower business from the Larsens and moved the floral shop to the Gunflint Tavern Building.
In about 1993 the Larsen’s discovered a high-end gift shop was going out of business in the Twin Cities. They walked through the store and inquired about a final closing sale that was going to take place later that week on a Saturday.
Telling the manager that they couldn’t be at the sale, Jim asked if they could buy all of the merchandise and have it shipped to Grand Marais. A deal was struck that day and Jackie said their store received a tremendous upgrade in merchandise to offer their customers.
Sometime circa 1995, the Larsen’s purchased 8-10 types of coffee and a grinder from a small coffee shop operating at Buck’s Hardware Hank. Eventually, the Larsens carried 40-50 brands of coffee, plus FIKA coffee, a brand that is locally roasted and ground. The Larsen’s sold their business at the end of December 2019, to Jessica and Tyler Dean.
“It was quite an evolution. We had more than four decades of business that went well,” Jackie said. “It can be trying at times to make a living off of six months of business, and there were lean times. But if you don’t fight through those lean times, you never get to see how good things can turn out to be.”
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