Last week found us looking south on Main Street in Fountain, Minn. We are still in town, have come to the end of the street, and are now heading back, traveling north. And oh what a view it is!
The first building on the left, well I don’t pretend to know what was behind those doors so long ago. But I do know up until the time it closed in the 70s or 80s, it was the home of The Fountain Hardware Store, owned and operated by Orrin and Doris Berg.
A souvenir level that I purchased many years ago at an auction in Fountain is a reminder of that store. Orange in color with bold, black print it described the Berg’s business as a General Hardware Store that also sold appliances and Shellane Bottled Gas. The fact that the telephone number had only two digits – “PH. 14,” indicates that it is a vintage piece of Fountain’s history.
I loved that hardware store —it held hundreds of objects and usually, whatever it was you were wanting to purchase, you could be sure to find it at their store.
The second building on the left is quite small, and again, back when this picture was taken, I don’t know what business occupied it. In later years, for a very long time, it was a personal residence — my uncle and aunt, Robert and Anna Belle Drury, and their large family lived there. My siblings and I can remember those good times, long ago, when our family stopped by often to visit them. The big town hall building was still standing, I think, minus the steeple. We would play in there as well as in that little stone jail that still stands on the same spot today! However, the tiny house was demolished last year.
If we glance on the right side of the street, a two-story building with a protruding upstairs porch completely obliterates the charming old brick Fountain Bank on the corner. But no worries, we’ll see an amazing image of it soon!
When we came to the end of Main Street we arrived at the Fountain Train Depot. This interesting picture includes the depot, a grain elevator to the left of it, and one car and one red caboose. A crowd has gathered near. The old one cent postcard was postally unused, thus there is no clever writing on the back of it to share with you.
Right before we arrived at the depot, we noticed a furniture store toward the end of Main Street that would become famous throughout the region!
“Drury’s Furniture of Fountain” has an impressive history behind it that will be so interesting to explore, so please, stay tuned!
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