1903 Newspaper Tidbits –

a 1903 newspaper article stated that life insurance companies have fully established the fact that the use of coffee causes an organic derangement of the heart, shortening the long beat and imperiling life. Half of the coffee drinkers are refused insurance in many cases ……. The cost of a marriage license in 1894 went up 100% when North Dakota raised the fee from $1.00 to $2.00. … Ad about 1900….. Don’t be a slouch, stop the grouch. Get well and you will see. More joy in life, less of strife. Try Rocky Mountain Tea

Phones Commandeered - Pt 2 –

 May 7, 1917… The biggest outrage of the Raid on May 7, 1917 came from the fact that before the raid a group of deputies entered the telephone office at gunpoint and ordered the operators away from the switchboard… in essence shutting it down to any and all phone calls for 53 minutes during the raid. The manager of the telephone office tried to make a call during that time but could not. He immediately went to the phone company, ordered the deputies to leave and the operators back to work. This did not happen so he left and returned with the company attorney. The Attorney entered the office and went to the switchboard himself to place a phone call to the judge to inquire into the authority of the deputies to close down the switchboard. When deputies ordered the attorney away from the switchboard he turned with a gun drawn. After a heated exchange of words the office manager and attorney left, soon to return with a group of armed citizens driving off the newly appointed deputies. The attorney was charged but eventually those charges were dropped. The Governor suspended the president of the City Commission stating he had allowed liquor to be sold, gambling to be done and “bawdy houses” to exist. He resigned and later then ran for re-election and won. In the end there was a lot of uproar in 1917 but very little changed on Third Street and life went on pretty much as it had before the raid.

1910 - Minot Telephone Exchange Building on Main St.

Phones Commandeered - Pt 1 – May 7, 1917

– It was a 53 minute ordeal on the night of May 7, 1917 when the Northern States Power Co. telephone office was seized during the largest law enforcement raid in the history of the state. Before the raid a group of deputies entered the telephone office at gunpoint and ordered the operators away from the switchboard… in essence shutting it down to any and all phone calls for 53 minutes during the raid. The raid was under the personal supervision of ND State Attorney General William Langer. Over 40 citizens of Minot had been deputized to participate in the raid. The attack in Minot was aimed at establishments said to be “dens of inequity”. Most of these were located on Minot’s “High Third” street. In 90 minutes 44 people had been arrested on charges such as gambling, prostitution, receiving proceeds from prostitution, operating a bawdy house and “blind pigging”. A “blind pig” was an establishment that served illegal alcohol as this was during the days of prohibition. Apparently several of those arrested were said to be prominent local citizens. Those arrested were dealt with in the local courts but there were very few convictions. 

typical switchboard operation in Minot

Early Phone Books

Phone Book Cover 1958 – The 1958 Minot telephone book was published by Northern States Power Company, the parent company to the phone company. The picture on the front cover was of a field and a large sun behind it. The words printed across the sun were “Why Not Minot?”. Below the picture was the slogan – “ The City with a Future”. What I thought was a bit unusual is the Minot Genie is not pictured on the cover. Instead the phone book has a farmer or maybe a cowboy standing in front of the field with the sun in the background

Dial Service Instructions – One of the first pages in the 1958 telephone directory had a complete set of instructions on how to use a rotary dial telephone. I believe this was about the time the dial phones came into existence.

1. Place forefinger firmly in dial opening 

2. Turn dial around in clockwise direction until the finger strikes the finger stop

3. Remove finger and let dial return to normal position

 The instructions also explained the different signals one could hear over the phone lines…. The phone ringing signal was described as a “burring” sound…. The Busy signal a “buzz-buzz-buzz” sound.  Instructions were also there on the use of “party lines”. Long distance and out of town calls had to go through the operator. In 1958 all phone numbers were 5 digit. Example: the phone number for Steenstrup Jewelers was 36-221

 1939 Phone Book front cover

1939 - phone book back cover

Riverside Park –

In the winter of 1914-1915 a road was constructed through Riverside Park and the Zoo was started. The first animals in the zoo were 12 fox squirrels and 12 gray squirrels. In A915 more animals were added. These new animals consisted of rabbits, raccoons, pheasants and guinea pigs. In 1916 a black bear, three bear cubs and several elk were added to the zoo. With the arrival of the bear, a bear den was constructed in 1919. The Bear Castle, as it was called, look like the ruins of a medieval castle. More land was purchased for and next to Riverside Park which contained a road named Elbow Road which connected to the road within Riverside Park. By this time a combination baseball-football field had been constructed in Riverside as well as tennis courts. Between 1921 to 1924 a concrete swimming pool was built, a bath house by the pool built and a foot bridge (into Eastwood Park) was constructed. On Sept 11, 1924, Riverside Park was renamed Theodore Roosevelt Park and the bronze statue was dedicated

 Original Bear Castle

 Zoo Building

 Riverside Park Swimming Pool

Flower Gardens

The First Minot Parks --

On July 2, 1912, 54 acres of land was purchased on the East side of Minot for $13,750. At the same time 10 acres were purchased on the west side of Minot for $5,25..During the winter of 1912-1913 a contest was help to name the parks. The West Park was named Oak Park due to the large number of oak trees present. The East Park was named Riverside Park. In May of 1913, three more acres next to Riverside Park were purchased adding to it. At the same time 15 acres were purchased in northwest Minot near Minot Normal School, (now MSU), to be named Lincoln Park. In 1922 eleven acres of land was purchased by the city on north hill to become known as Grand View Park. Oak Park – Tennis courts and a wading pool were added to Oak Park in 1917. In June of 1920 the city purchased 52 acres of land to the west of the original park and which increased the size of Oak Park by more the 5 times its original size.

 Oak Park - 1920's

Oak Park Pool - 1961

Jacobson Opera House –

For 20 years, from 1903 to 1923, the ornate Jacobson Opera house was the cultural center of Minot. It was a brick building built by DA Dinnie, an early contractor in Minot,  at a cost of $30,000.00. The stage was 30 by 50 feet which was the largest in this part of the country in those days. It had a proscenium arch surrounded by lightbulbs that would flash on and off. This type of arch framed the stage like a picture frame. The curtain for the stage rolled up and when down had advertisements on it.  The opera house occupied two of the floors of the building. The orchestra on the second floor and the balcony on the third floor. It would seat 450 people. The opera house was the scene of many plays, concerts, political rallies, dances, lectures and concerts. The Opera House was destroyed by fire in 1923. It was rebuilt by and became the home of Union National Bank. The location is now the Taube Museum

 Jacobson Opera House

 Opera House fire - 1923

Union National Bank