Stearn's Beveage Business

Beer & Wine Wholesale Business  -- Bill Langer was instrumental in helping Lou Stearns in getting his license to start his wholesale business, Minot Beverage Company. According to one of his past office managers, part of the deal was that Langor received a payment of 5 cents for every bottle of beer or wine distributed. However the checks were always sent to a judge in New York rather than to Bill Langer. One would suppose that the money eventually reached him.

The Soft Drink Business – The soft drink business started in the Stearns Motors building as part of Minot Beverage Company. My understanding is that at one time there was a bottling operation in the basement of Stearns Motors. This was eventually moved to South Broadway and became Northern Bottling Company, which is still in business today

Evacuated 2011 - Day 99 - Sep 28, 2011

Tomorrow will be 100 days since we moved out of the house. A busy and productive day yesterday. Pat and I removed the hardwood floor from the kitchen. Musch of it, especially under the sink was warped and beyond saving. The hardwood floor in the den will be coming out this weekend and out to the dump it goes. We saved quite a bit from the pantry and kitchen so we have enough to use for patching when needed in the living room, dining room, entry way and hallway. The concrete floor is poured and dried in the basement. By tonight the sealer should be on so we can better see the color and texture. The driveway/patio is being poured today, at least 1/2 of it. The rest will be poured tomorrow and by early next week the staining will be done.
The Roxul insulation arrived yesterday as did the sub flooring I ordered for the kitchen and den. The only thing left to demolish will be the bedroom floor if we decide to, (which I think we will), and to remove more lathe and plaster.
Last Sunday we cleaned the inside of the porch.... (1st time through). We also scrubbed down the front of the house and started on the south side. We have come to realize that there is no magic cleaning solution to remove the dirt from the flood. It takes elbow grease and scrubbing.

Stearn's Auto Storage

Stearn’s Auto Storage and Parking Business – One of the main parts of the operations at Stearns Motors was the parking and automobile storage. Stearns Motors was at the north end of Minot’ infamous High Third Street. This area of Minot was known for it’s after hour bars, houses of prostitution gambling rooms and at one time opium dens. Many of the prostitutes would rotate in and out of Minot about every two to four weeks. Some arrived by train, some by bus and some by automobile. Many of those arriving by car were brought to Minot in large, fancy vehicles owned by their pimps. While the car was in town it was probably stored inside at Stearns Motors

Stearn's Auto Repair

Stearn’s  Auto Repair Business – Jack Foley was the Service Manager of  the automobile repair shop affiliated with Stearn’s Motors. At one time there was a gas station out in front of the building. The gas station was on the southwest corner of the intersection of 2^nd Street and Central Avenue.  In those days there was a ramp that went west from Central Avenue down to the Great Northern Depot. One day a minister pulled up and was having his car filled with gas. He jokingly told Jack to charge the gas to the Lord. Jack replied without batting an eye, “Send him down to sign for it and I will.”

Stean's Motors

Stearns Motors -- Lou Stearns was the owner of Stearn’s Motors. In its day Stearn’s Motors was a automobile repair shop and also a garage to park and store automobiles. There were actually five businesses in Strearn’s Motors. The Auto Repair, the Auto Storage Business, a soft drink bottling and wholesale business, a beer and wine wholesale business and apartment rentals. Lou Stearns was reported to have been a generous man. If someone he knew came to him and was down on their luck he would give them a five dollar bill. In those days that was a decent sum of money.

Evacuated 2011 - Day 95 - Sep 24, 2011

The floor in the basement is in. It still needs to be power washed and then sealed after it sets up for a few days. The walls can then go up and rewiring can proceed in the basement. The driveway / patio has been removed so by early next week we may have that replaced. The insulation has arrived. Muus Lumber is going to deliver that on Tuesday afternoon about 2 pm. We can start insulating the main floor. I removed the hardwood floor from the pantry and 1/2 the kitchen. Most of the kitchen flooring is bad. We are saving quite a bit for use in patching areas on the rest of the main floor. I will have Muus drop off new subflooring. The kitchen will get some sort of tile.
The hardwood floor in the den is also coming out as it has been patched and is covered with the residue of rubber back carpet. We will replace that with new hardwood to accent the original on the rest of the main floor. The Corps of Engineers is not picking up debris anymore so we will be hauling to the dump ourselves.

Evacuated 2011 - Day 94 - Sep 23, 2011

One half of the basement floor has been poured, textured and stained. The other half is going to be done today.... pending the availability of concrete. The driveway is about half gone. It suffered damage due to the flood and the big roll off dumpsters that came and went during the demolition phase. We are going to get rid of the weeds in the yard and rake it so it looks better. This weekend should be warm. One of the tasks is to wash down the outside of the house.... as much as possible. The other tasks are to remove more lathe and plaster and also remove the floor in the kitchen and den. We want to save some of the flooring to use for patching in some areas. Things are profressing....