Dakota Drug

Dakota Drug – Dakota Drug was founded in 1929 By “Cap” Saunders and was located inside Saunders Drug on North Main Street. Eventually Dakota Drug moved two doors north on Main Street. In 1948 the business moved into its home which is the site of the former Dakota Hotel.  Dakota Drug distributed a variety of products including drugs, drug sundries, tobacco, cigars and sporting goods. The company also rented space at 101 East Central Avenue for tobacco and sporting goods products. This division separated and became known as Nodak Candy and Tobacco Co. At one Time Dakota Drug had 8 sales mangers covering most of North Dakota and a large part of Montana.

Asplund Toyota

Asplund Toyota – Wendall Asplund started his first service garage and body shop on Minot’s north side in 1927. The first franchise Asplund had was the Pullman Coach. Through the years Asplund also sold Kaiser vehicles, Willys and finally in 1955, Studebaker. Asplund eventually became the Toyota dealer. When I first had dealings with Asplund Toyota they were located on South Broadway, just south of the old Frosaker Motor building. The service/shop entrance was located on Broadway. Driving in was no problem. To back out, you needed someone to watch traffic as you exited. Asplund eventually built a dealership on north hill. The Toyota franchise was purchased by Ryan Chevrolet and then by Minot Chrysler. .... no picture available a this time

Northwestern Bell Telephone

Northwestern Bell Telephone Co. – NW Bell was located at 201 South Broadway .. Across the street to the east from Sweetheart Bakery and across the street to the south from the former Elks Club. In its “heyday” the company employed about 200 people. Operator services closed in December 1977. The plant division remained for a few years. Eventually all services were moved to Bismarck. The building was torn down and is now a parking lot.

Northern States Power

NSP – Northern States Power – in 1901 a franchise for phone and electric service was granted to the Minot Light and Telephone Company. The franchise was sold in 1911 and the name was changed to the Consumers Power Company. The name was changed again in 1916 to Northern States Power. NSP was located on Main Street until 1967  when it moved to 24 Second Avenue SE. The company was split. The telephone division became Minot Telephone and is now SRT. The electric division is now Xcel Energy.

Saunders Drug

Saunders Drug – in 1908, Cap Saunders came to Minot to work in the Leland Drug Store which was owned by Paul McCoy and Clarence Parker. McCoy and Frank Taylor owned Taylors Drug on North Main Street. Three months after arriving in Minot, Saunders was moved to Taylor Drug. In 1912 he bought one third interest in the store and later bought out McCoy and the name was changed to Saunders Drug. In 1935 Taylor sold his interest to Saunders. At midnight on December 31, 1948, Saunders turned over the management of the drug store to John Vardsveen. Saunders Drug was located at 5 North Main Street. The first picture is the interior of Taylor's Drug. The second picture is the west side of Main Street in the 50's showing Saunders Drug.

Show N Sell Sign

the Show N Sell Sign is the former marquee from the Empire Theater on main Street.  When the theater was torn down, the theater marquee was rescued by Robert and Becky Weiss. The sign was built in 1954 when the Empire Theater was constructed. The Show N Sell sign was placed on the roof of the Midtown Plaza on the southwest corner of Broadway and 2^nd Avenue. A number of energy saving materials. As the Empire Marquee the sign was illuminated with 480 incandescent light bulbs. As the Show N Sell sign it is illuminated by two exterior high intensity lights. The sign was rented by people and businesses wanting to advertise or announce special events. As co-owner of the Show N Sell sign I can attest to some of the challenges in operating it. The only access to the sign on the roof was by an extension ladder placed on the west side of the building. The first winter of ownership we discovered that water on the roof pooled below the sign. In the winter, the wind blew and polished the ice, making it very slippery. We used a step ladder to place the letters on the sign as this worked much better and was quicker than using the long arms to place the letters. With the ice it became a two man job. One to hold the ladder and one to place the letters. In later years we placed wooden pallets upside down below the sign. When they froze into the ice, the step ladder would not slide around while working on the sign. I have a picture of the sign somewhere. I will look for it to scan after I find it when we get back home. We have been evacuated due to possible flooding of the Mouse River. Below is the sign in its original form on the Empire Theater.

Minot Grocery Company

The Minot Grocery Company started operations in Minot in 1906. Its first home was in downtown Minot east of Main Street and north of Central Avenue. In the early days Minot Grocery was purchased by the Nash Finch Company.  The Nash Brothers started business in 1885 in Grand Forks and were soon joined by Harry Finch. Nash Finch Company supplied products to the area Piggly Wiggly, Jack & Jill and Circle Food Stores. Nash Finch moved to a new, modern warehouse on Highway 2 & 52 West. They are still in business at the same location. That is now 16^th Street SW and Burdick Expressway West. The picture below is Nash Finch Company in the 1940's