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Sweet finds in downtown Montgomery, Part I April 10, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:10 AM
Tags: antiques, crafts, furniture, historic buildings, main street, Michelle McCrady, Minnesota, Montgomery, quilt shop, quilting, quilts, Rani's Furniture @ Antiques, shabby chic, shopping, small towns, southern Minnesota, travel, vintage

Rani’s Furniture @ Antiques housed in a former hardware store in downtown Montgomery.

I LOVE A SWEET vintage find. However, I can’t always own what I covet, even if the price is right. That’s reality. My pockets are not deep nor my house large.

But that doesn’t keep me from shopping thrift and antique shops like those my husband and I perused on a recent visit to Montgomery, Minnesota. I suggested we take the van, just in case we found a piece of furniture for the son who is moving into his first apartment in six weeks.

Randy saw right through that smokescreen.

I purchased the white table on the right and had to keep myself from buying the $60 dining room set. Note the beautiful original wood floor in this former hardware store building.

At Rani’s Furniture @ Antiques, Montgomery’s newest business (opened on April 3), I found my furniture find, much to the spouse’s chagrin. He couldn’t quite understand why I just “had to have” a $15 shabby chic round table with peeling paint.

I practiced my persuasive speaking skills. Think al fresco dining or an indoor/outdoor plant stand or a guest bedroom bed-side table and/or a really cool table to use at the daughter’s upcoming wedding reception in an historic venue. Randy wasn’t exactly buying my arguments, but acquiesced and dutifully loaded the table into the back of our van.

This 100-plus-year-old Hoosier cabinet had seven layers of paint on it before Mary Bowen refinished it. The cabinet is being sold in her son Dean Turnlund’s store for $325.

I wished I could have stuffed a round dining room table with the heaviest wood chairs I’ve ever lifted; a 100-plus-year-old Hoosier cabinet resplendent with tip-out bins; and two aged wardrobes into the van, too. But I wasn’t about to push my luck and purchase this furniture I neither needed nor have space for in our home.

Love these old wardrobes for sale at Rani’s.

A girl can dream, though, can’t she?

The stone block steps leading into Rani’s.

I tend to get all starry-eyed whenever I enter an antique or other shop featuring vintage furniture. Rani’s, housed in a hulking corner brick building labeled as “Lepeskas Block 1898,” had me in her clutch even before I stepped onto the substantial stone steps leading into the former hardware store.

Michelle McCrady owns Quilter's Dream and the adjacent music store, 116 First Street South in downtown Montgomery.

Michelle McCrady owns Quilter’s Dream and the adjacent Montgomery Music Studio.

Likewise, even though I’m not a quilter, Michelle McCrady’s Quilter’s Dream dreamy quilt shop, located two blocks north of Rani’s in the Old Ben Franklin store and complete with an impressive original tin ceiling, charmed me, too. I cannot resist the sweet touch of historic features.

Quilter’s Dream features a beautiful original tin ceiling and a wonderful collection of quilts, fabrics, notions and more.

Plus, entering Michelle’s shop was like stepping into spring with vibrant hues splashing across quilts and bolts of fabric. This quilt shop reawakened the seamstress in me—the teen who, in the seventies, stitched clothing from hot pants to the shortest of short skirts to sensible simple dresses for Grandma.

Bolts of eye-catching fabrics in bright hues line shelves.

I’ve never lost my appreciation for bolts and bolts and bolts of cotton fabric awaiting the pinning of straight pins, the snip of scissors, the stitch of thread. There’s something artfully satisfying about creating from fabric.

A sampling of the gorgeous quilts you’ll find in Michelle’s shop.

Fifteen minutes in Michelle’s shop will convince you that this mother of 11 is passionate about quilting and all things fabric. She teaches classes, leases out time on her long-arm quilting machine and stitches up plenty of cute gifts from aprons to bibs, not to mention the many fabulous quilts gracing her store walls.

This owl quilt centers a back nook.

Who knew such sweet finds await shoppers in Montgomery? Not me.

Another nook, this one at the front of the quilt shop.

Michelle uses this long-arm sewing machine to quilt at the shop. Quilters can also pay to use the machine.

FYI: Quilter’s Dream, 116 First Street South, is open from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday – Friday and from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Saturday. Click here to reach the Quilter’s Facebook page.

One of my other favorite finds at Rani's, a vintage 50s toy chest.

Two other favorite finds at Rani’s: a vintage 50s toy chest and Cabbage Patch dolls.

And just because I appreciate vintage graphics, here’s the label inside the toy box lid.

Rani’s Furniture @ Antiques, 300 First Street South, is open from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Wednesday – Saturday.

CHECK BACK TOMORROW as I take you into more sweet shops in this southern Minnesota community. Click here to read my introductory post to this small town. And click here to view my photo essay on an old-fashioned Montgomery barbershop, Main Street Barber.

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Poking around Montgomery, Minnesota April 9, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:59 AM
Tags: businesses, historic buildings, life, main street, Minnesota, Montgomery, shopping, small towns, southern Minnesota, travel

A shot of First Street in Montgomery’s downtown business district.

MONTGOMERY, IN MY OPINION, may be one of small town southern Minnesota’s best-kept secrets.

A wealth of historic buildings still stand in Montgomery, one reason I am particularly drawn to this community. Walk inside many businesses and you will find original tin ceilings and wood floors.

If you appreciate historic buildings, ethnic charm, friendly folks and one-of-a-kind home-grown businesses all packaged in a Main Street reminiscent of yesteryear, you’ll delight in Montgomery.

Dogs roaming and kids rollerblading along the sidewalks of Main Street.

Dogs roaming and kids rollerblading along the sidewalks of First Street.

On Saturday, my husband and I drove a half hour northwest of Faribault to check out this Czech community’s downtown. We meandered from thrift shop to bakery to thrift shop to drugstore and quilt shop, and even bopped into an old-fashioned barbershop before visiting the town’s newest corner shop, Rani’s, and then walking a block north to order pizza for a late lunch.

Biking in downtown Montgomery past the Palace Bar which advertises a Pork/Dumpling Dinner from 12 – 8 p.m. on the last Thursday of the month.

Afterward, we perused Big Honza’s Museum of Unnatural History, hit up another antique store and, finally, caught a Czech import shop on the way out of town.

The White Front Saloon, one of many bars we spotted.

But we didn’t hit a single of the half-dozen or so bars. Nor did we take in the 24th annual Miss Czech Slovak MN Pageant over at the American Legion, although several shopkeepers inquired whether we were in town just for that.

A downtown mural graces the side of the Bird’s Nest, a thrift store.

Nope, just two empty nesters poking around this self-proclaimed Kolacky Capital of the World.

Another shot of the Main Street business district.

Another shot of the downtown business district.

CHECK BACK for a series of posts featuring the places we visited in this Le Sueur County community of around 3,000. You can click here to read my post about Main Street Barber. Also check my March 4 – 8 archives for additional stories focusing on the artsy side of Montgomery.

For those not in the know, a kolacky is a Czech pastry. Montgomery celebrates Kolacky Days each July, this year the 26th through the 28th.

BONUS PHOTOS:

One of my favorite buildings and attached vintage signage. I need to return and explore this place.

A block off the main drag, we spotted this tractor. “It’s for sale,” a man yelled from a window somewhere.

A parting shot of that historic Main Street.

A parting shot of that historic downtown.

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Part I: Touring historic downtown Montgomery, Minnesota, not Alabama March 4, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:26 AM
Tags: antique shops, businesses, downtown, historic buildings, main street, Minnesota, Montgomery, small towns, southern Minnesota, tourism, travel

A snippet overview of First Street in downtown Montgomery late on a Sunday afternoon.

EARLY ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON in the dead of a Minnesota winter, downtown Montgomery, except for vehicles clustered around Hilltop Hall for a theatrical performance and around locals bars, is mostly quiet.

A mural depicts downtown. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

The occasional pick-up truck cruises First Street, the main north-south route through the heart of this Le Sueur County farming community of nearly 3,000 noted for its strong Czech heritage.

Although this self-proclaimed “Kolacky Capital of the World” lies only about 25 miles northwest of my Faribault home, I’ve never really explored the town except to attend three plays at Hilltop Hall and to write a magazine feature story about Franke’s Bakery. The 99-year-old bakery specializes in kolacky, a folded Czech pastry filled with poppy seeds or fruit.

Franke’s Bakery. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

On this Sunday afternoon the bakery is closed. And so are most other businesses. Without distracting vehicles, I can fully appreciate the historic architectural qualities of this downtown. From the aged brick buildings to the vintage signage to the woodframe storefronts that always remind me of something out of a Western, I am smitten with these buildings, this business district.

I must, I tell myself, return to Montgomery when these businesses are open. I can only imagine what discoveries await me.

I love antique shops and thrift stores, so you can bet Sweet Repeats Resale Shop is on my list of places to check out.

Look, another antique shop, La Nette’s Antiques’n Lace.

Lots of super cool vintage signage in Montgomery.

Because my eldest daughter is in love with a Schmidt boy (nothing to do with the beer), I had to photograph this sign. The striped building is the local meat market.

On the National Register of Historic Places, the historic Westerman Lumber Company office and house is home to Pizzeria 201. The restaurant makes homemade pizzas, a wide selection of Italian foods and more. I’ve heard rave reviews about the food.

So small town: burgers and a meat raffle promoted on a whiteboard in a restaurant window.

I don’t expect I’ll get inside this vintage 1800s house tucked between businesses on First Street, but I could try. That’s the office of the local newspaper, The Montgomery Messenger, on the left.

I absolutely love these small towns that have kept their historic buildings like this one dated 1896.

TOMORROW, IN THIS FIVE-PART SERIES from Montgomery, I take you to Hilltop Hall, which I’ve visited thrice. After that, we’ll go inside Franke’s Bakery, with photos from my 2010 visit there; I don’t expect much has changed. Next, I’ll show you how this community honors its veterans in a unique way. And then, to end my five-part series on Montgomery, I’ll show you several bonus photos from the town.

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Lovin’ Hastings’ historic downtown October 30, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:51 AM
Tags: antique shops, antiques, businesses, Hastings, historic buildings, main street, Minnesota, tourism, travel

Just a sampling of the historic buildings in downtown Hastings, Minnesota.

WHY I’VE NEVER VISITED historic Hastings, a Mississippi River town an hour from my Faribault home, prior to a few weeks ago remains a mystery to me.

Jammed with building after building after building hearkening from yesteryear, Hastings’ downtown holds precisely the type of architecture and vintage imprint that I find especially appealing.

Looking up at Second Childhood Toys.

I could just stand there and gawk at the upper floors of these mostly brick buildings—at the arched windows, the detailed trim, the dates that define a building’s birth—for a good spell.

Stroll the sidewalks of downtown Hastings at a leisurely pace and step inside the many charming shops.

But the sidewalk level, too, offers an equal amount of charm with a multitude of antique and gift shops, a sweet spot to sample ice cream or candy, and more.

Relaxing on an early autumn afternoon in downtown Hastings, when the weather was still warm.

It’s the kind of Main Street where folks lollygag, where locals relax on a bench and sip coffee, where a dog lazes in the middle of the sidewalk and no one minds skirting around the canine, where trolls lurk near the bridge.

In Oliver’s Grove 1819, a downtown park, I found this mural of trolls and the old spiral bridge which once crossed over the Mississippi from Hastings to Wisconsin. Hastings was originally called Oliver’s Grove after Lt. William G. Oliver who arrived here in 1819.

This describes the Hastings I found on a Saturday afternoon in early autumn. Hastings, with its historic district, reminds me of Faribault’s downtown. Except Faribault seems to be mostly undiscovered.

Mailboxes and an historic marker on a door in the business district.

These circus glasses caught my eye inside an antique shop, Second Street Antiques and Collectibles, I believe. It was difficult for me to resist purchasing these as I collect vintage glassware.

Inside the same antique shop, looking across the street at a row of historic buildings.

Just in time for Halloween…a vintage clown costume in the same antique mall.

A vintage turkey decoration for the table, a few booths over from that Halloween costume.

One more seasonal find, a casserole in autumn hues.

So many antique shops to visit and not enough time to see them all.

Walking the dog in historic downtown Hastings on a warm and sunny Saturday earlier in autumn.

PLEASE CHECK BACK for more posts from historic Hastings.

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The corner bar in Canton October 17, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:35 AM
Tags: bars, businesses, Canton, Canton Pub, main street, Minnesota, small towns, southeastern Minnesota, travel, vintage beer signs

If you can take your eyes off the vintage phone booth, you’ll notice a beer sign suspended from ZZs Tap (bar) along Canton’s Main Street.

PEER DOWN THE ONE-BLOCK Main Street of Small Town, USA, and your eyes likely will land on a bar or two anchoring a business district comprised of primarily vacant and crumbling buildings.

That’s an over-generalization, of course, but sadly all too true for many once-thriving small towns.

That’s the Canton Pub on the left and the Canton Municipal Liquor Store on the right with an unknown business sandwiched in between.

While hardware stores and grocery stores, even hometown cafes and barber shops, have closed, the corner bar typically endures.

I’ve never been a frequent bar customer and honestly can’t remember the last time I stepped into a small town bar where heads swivel when a stranger enters. You know what I mean, right?

Food and drink and Tuesday night bar bingo can be found at the Canton Pub.

On a recent stop in Canton, a town of 328 nudging the Iowa border in southeastern Minnesota, I spotted the Canton Pub. I didn’t even try the pub door to see if I might slip inside for a cold one on an autumn afternoon.

I was too busy photographing the beer signs.

I photographed this sign at the Canton Pub for my oldest daughter’s boyfriend, Marc Schmidt, who recently relocated to the Twin Cities from LA.

Another beer sign on the Canton Pub.

I almost missed the classic “land of sky blue waters” Hamm’s sign until my husband pointed it out at the Canton Pub.

CHECK BACK FOR ANOTHER post from Canton. There’s more to see in this small town than the bars.

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The little brick house in Waterville September 14, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:14 AM
Tags: architecture, brick house, main street, Minnesota, rural Minnesota, small towns, Waterville

YOUR HOUSE NEEDN’T BE a mansion to impress me.

Just look at this sweet little brick house along Main Street in downtown Waterville.

I’ve never seen a house sandwiched like this, wall-to-wall, between two buildings and tucked into a totally unexpected place.

The owner ducked out of the scene just before I shot this single photo. She loves her home, she said, and that was about it. I didn’t want to overstay my “Can I take a picture of your house?” welcome since she clearly was entertaining guests.

But I really wanted to walk around the fence, right up the brick path and through the front door, just so I could see if the little brick house is as quaint inside as it is outside. And how dark, or light, is it inside that house anyway?

I counted at least four benches where I could sit a spell and chat. Maybe ask about that horse by the fence, the bear bench by the brick wall, how this house came to be, if patrons from the neighboring Corner Bar and Main Street Lounge ever cause problems. You know, stuff like that.

FYI: This ends, for now, my stories from Waterville. To read my first post about this southern Minnesota lakeside community, click here.

To read my second post about a quaint coffee shop, which also serves as a place for local artisans to sell their creations, click here.

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Pull off Highway 14 & view the historic buildings of Lamberton June 7, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:20 AM
Tags: architecture, Hanzlik Blacksmith Shop, historic buildings, Lamberton, main street, small towns, southwestern Minnesota, The Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway, travel, Walnut Grove

A portion of Lamberton’s Main Street shows this to be a strong agricultural community.

LAMBERTON. Just another small town on the southwestern Minnesota prairie, so you would think if you’re driving on U.S. Highway 14, The Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway.

But this community some dozen miles east of Walnut Grove, destination for fans of “The Little House” books and television series, is worth at least a drive-through if not a stop.

I’ll admit that up until my middle brother moved onto acreage north of Lamberton several years ago, I hadn’t spent much time in this town of 822 except to visit an uncle and aunt who once lived and ran a furniture store here.

I still haven’t explored this agricultural community like I should. But I’ve seen enough to know that I need to look more in depth. Let me show you why, via photos I took, mostly along Main Street, during a brief stop two months ago.

The once-popular corner gas station still stands in downtown Lamberton.

Most small towns once had creameries like this one.

Hanzlik Blacksmith Shop, dating to 1895, was gifted to the city and preserved by the local historical society. With the original wood floor and tools, it’s been called “a warehouse of a long ago lost art” by locals. The community celebrates this piece of history with an annual Hot Iron Days, this year set for September 7 – 8.

It’s the old buildings—from the cute corner gas station to the stout brick creamery to the old wood-frame blacksmith shop—that appeal to me. Some 30 miles to the northwest in my hometown of Vesta, which like Lamberton sits in Redwood County, the old buildings are mostly gone. But not in Lamberton. Here you’ll find plenty of historic buildings to please your artist’s eye and your historian’s heart.

Now all I need is someone with keys so I can take you inside these old buildings.

Vintage signs hold a certain historic charm.

The Music Mart supplies most major brands of band and orchestral instruments. Sales staff reach out to 100-plus schools in southern Minnesota, according to online information. Who would expect to find this type of business in a small town of less than 1,000 residents? Not me.

The Lamberton Antique Peddler is a must-see for anyone who is into antiques. This place is packed with merchandise in the former furniture store once operated by my uncle and aunt, Merlin and Iylene.

The Sewing Shoppe next to the creamery. Love the architecture.

An old Farmall is parked next to a building just off Main Street.

“The locker.”

A low-slung brick building, perhaps a former garage, caught my eye.

TO VIEW ANOTHER particularly beautiful building in Lamberton, a former bakery, click here to read a previous post on Minnesota Prairie Roots.

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What would you do with this old bakery in Lamberton? May 31, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:35 AM
Tags: Bob Sanger, business, food, historic buildings, Lamberton, main street, Sanger's Bakery, small town Minnesota, southwestern Minnesota, travel

The former Sanger’s Bakery in Lamberton, a Minnesota farming community. I’d move the garbage bin in front of the building, replace it with a bench and add pots of vivid flowers.

I’VE PHOTOGRAPHED many an old building in a lot of small towns. My appreciation for history and architecture and for rural life keep drawing me back to Main Street.

One building in particular intrigues me. The former Sanger’s Bakery, a brick stronghold anchoring a corner in downtown Lamberton in southern Redwood County, possesses a sweet, timeless charm that causes it to stand out.

How long has this signage been painted on the front window of Sanger’s?

It’s not necessarily the exterior that catches my eye, although certainly the signage and sweeping arched front window and the fancy details in the brick appeal to me. Rather, it’s the interior which truly captures my interest.

The two times I’ve photographed the exterior, I’ve also paused to press my nose against the windows and peer inside to a snapshot of the past. You would swear the hands on the vintage 7-UP clock have not moved in decades. An old-fashioned candy counter and vintage lunch counter rimmed with stools look like something straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting.

A vintage sign suspended from the front of the bakery.

Honestly, you just don’t find places like this anymore. Martin Kuhar opened the bakery in 1928. The Sanger family purchased it in 1946 and eventually Bob, the youngest of Nick and Mary’s six children, bought the business in 1961. He was a 1955 graduate of the baking program at Dunwoody Institute.

All of this I learned on a recent stop at the bakery, where I found Bob’s obituary taped to the front door. He died March 30.

Just days before his death, this long-time baker was serving coffee to his friends. Oh, how I wish I could have been in that coffee klatch, listening to the stories.

I bet Bob would have shared plenty about the place where he served up baked goods, hand-scooped ice cream cones, malts and candy. He baked buns for local schools and churches and crafted wedding cakes. He also sold fresh eggs from his chickens and honey from his bees. He tended a garden.

After reading Bob’s obit, I desired even more to get into the bakery. I jiggled the front door knob, hoping the door might be unlocked. It wasn’t. I’m determined, on my next trip to Lamberton, to get inside the bakery, to share with you this treasure from the past.

In the meantime, owners of this building and Lamberton area residents, I hope you appreciate what you have here. I could easily see this former bakery reopened as an ice cream/sandwich/pie/coffee/gift shop. The location along U.S. Highway 14 only 10 miles from Walnut Grove, childhood home of author Laura Ingalls Wilder, is ideal. The area already draws plenty of tourists during the summer months.

The right owner, with the right ideas, a good business and marketing plan, and adept at using social media could turn this old bakery into a destination.

I can envision the possibilities.

Readers, what do you think? If anyone out there knows anything about plans for the old bakery, submit a comment. Or, if you simply have ideas, I’d like to hear those, too.

A side shot of the former bakery. Just imagine the possibilities for this spacious building. Let’s hear your ideas.

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Main Street Wabasso, home of the White Rabbit April 25, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:39 AM
Tags: businesses, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, main street, poetry, small towns, southwestern Minnesota, The Song of Hiawatha, Wabasso, white rabbit

The Roadhouse Bar & Grill is a popular gathering and dining spot in Wabasso. During the summer, old car enthusiasts and motorcyclists gather here for Tuesday evening "Roll-ins" that draw up to 1,000 people. There's plenty of outdoor seating on a sprawling patio where a hamburger bar is set up for the popular event. The Grill also offers an extensive burger and sandwich menu with reasonable prices.

WITH A HALF HOUR wait before we could be seated at the Roadhouse Bar and Grill in Wabasso on a recent Saturday evening, I hit the sidewalk determined to photograph the Main Street of this small southwestern Minnesota town where I attended high school.

This road-side sculpture welcomes travelers to Wabasso, which means white rabbit.

I have, through the decades, discovered minimal familiarity among most Minnesotans with Wabasso, a Redwood County farming community of around 650 that links to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, “The Song of Hiawatha.”

Longfellow writes in his section on the Four Winds:

“Honor be to Mudjekeewis!”
Cried the warriors, cried the old men,
When he came in triumph homeward
With the sacred Belt of Wampum,
From the regions of the North-Wind,
From the kingdom of Wabasso,
From the land of the White Rabbit.

I’ve always been told that Wabasso is an Indian word meaning “white rabbit.” I never learned of the poetic connection until researching on my own; English teachers at Wabasso High never taught this, that I recall. I doubt many of the locals are aware of Longfellow’s reference.

Wabasso is decidedly proud of its white rabbit namesake, though. You’ll find an oversized rabbit statue along State Highway 68 on the south side of town. The public school mascot is, of course, a white rabbit. And, as I found, even local businesses support the Rabbits via storefront signage.

Wabasso’s downtown business district is typical rural Minnesota with a mix of well-kept and deteriorating buildings that border a broad street. Attempts to modernize once stately brick buildings with wood and metal fail and make you wish for a money bag of gold to restore such structures to their original grandeur.

But for now, in this economy, one must choose to appreciate the imperfections of Main Street as adding character to a community like Wabasso, home of the white rabbit.

A broad view of a block along Wabasso's Main Street on a recent Saturday evening.

Wabasso is a strong agricultural-based community. The outgoing Future Farmers of America Minnesota State President Hillary Kletscher (my niece) graduated from Wabasso High School in 2011.

A sign supporting the high school sports team hangs in a salon window.

Wabasso is fortunate enough to still have a grocery store.

Signage in the window of Salfer's Food Center.

My WHS class of 1974 classmate Marcis owns this combination floral shop and hair salon along Main Street. Marcy was also waiting tables at the Roadhouse the Saturday evening I was in town.

Wabasso is fortunate to also still have a post office, unlike more and more rural communities in Minnesota.

THE PHOTOS IN THIS POST are similar in content to those printed in the just-published spring issue of Minnesota Moments magazine. Photographer Ryan Ware of Chaska and I contributed 16 images from 14 small towns to a photo essay titled “Touring Main Street in Small Town, Minnesota.” The essay is only a small sampling of the hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of images we have taken of small towns and rural areas. Both natives of southwestern Minnesota, Ryan and I share a passion for photography that connects us to our rural roots. I would encourage you to check out Ryan’s photos at his Fleeting Farms blog by clicking here.

CLICK HERE to reach the Minnesota Moments website.

CLICK HERE for more information about the Roadhouse Bar & Grill.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Wabasso.

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Downtown Faribault in December in black & white December 22, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 8:10 AM
Tags: black-and-white photos, businesses, Central Avenue, downtown, Faribault, historic district, history, main street, Minnesota, National Register of Historic Places, photography, photos, travel

The former Security Bank building anchors a corner of Central Avenue in downtown Faribault.

PHOTOS DEVOID of distracting color possess a certain surreal, dreamy quality and a vintage feel that have always appealed to me.

Some of the best images I’ve seen hearken from years ago which just goes to prove that technology doesn’t always equate better results.

While filing through photos I shot in historic downtown Faribault on Saturday afternoon and evening, I decided to play with my photo editing tools and desaturate several images. I liked the results so much that I stripped every frame of color.

The results, I think, impress even more upon the viewer the history of this early Minnesota community that stretches back to its founding by fur trader Alexander Faribault in 1852.

We’re a city rich in history with 40 properties on the National Register of Historic Places.

With that perspective, please join me on a quick photo tour of the downtown area. Certainly much more comprises our downtown than what you see in the seven images here.

I invite you to explore on your own, to immerse yourself in the history that defines Faribault.

Historic buildings along Central Avenue.

Dandelet Jewelry occupies the former 1882 Dandelet Dry Goods building, which was renovated in 1985.

A scene from the movie, "Grumpy Old Men," was shot in the former drug store to the right in this image. Today the building houses a pawn shop.

A holiday display window at Erickson Furniture, in business since 1956 and located along Fifth Street Northwest just a block off Central Avenue. Erickson Furniture won first place in the Main Street window decorating contest with its suspended green chairs, holiday ornaments and lights.

Holiday decorations in a business window along Third Street Northwest just off Central.

A sign in the window of Burkhartzmeyer Shoes, a third-generation family-owned shoe store founded in 1949.

CLICK HERE to read a previous post about Faribault’s historic downtown.

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Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Sweet finds in downtown Montgomery, Part I April 10, 2013

Poking around Montgomery, Minnesota April 9, 2013

Part I: Touring historic downtown Montgomery, Minnesota, not Alabama March 4, 2013

Lovin’ Hastings’ historic downtown October 30, 2012

The corner bar in Canton October 17, 2012

The little brick house in Waterville September 14, 2012

Pull off Highway 14 & view the historic buildings of Lamberton June 7, 2012

What would you do with this old bakery in Lamberton? May 31, 2012

Main Street Wabasso, home of the White Rabbit April 25, 2012

Downtown Faribault in December in black & white December 22, 2011

Follow Minnesota Prairie Roots via Email

An essay of barn photos & memories; In praise of preserving country churches; & Testing the track during a Soap Box Derby trial run in Faribault

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