Down to Business

The Railroads Engines of growth The Resorts Lures to the lakes The 'Strip' West Lake Drive ...And more, inside

The Evolution of a Tourist Town

150 Years Ago to Today

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Welcome

It's been three years since Ago to Today" takes an we published our last Down informational dive into the to Business magazine, in the beachfront businesses and spring of 2019. Like so many railroad companies that helped businesses, we at the Detroit birth a tourist town in this Lakes Tribune were forced to little pocket of Minnesota we scale back on some things during now know as Detroit Lakes. the leaner years of the COVIDFrom the mom-and-pop 19 pandemic, and this typically resorts that helped kick-start

by MARIE annual magazine was one of the local tourism industry to JOHNSON those things that, unfortunately, the businesses along West Lake got put on the back burner.

Drive that have popped up to But now, we're up and running at full cater to tourists' needs (and the needs speed again, and we're excited to be getting of residents, too), these pages are meant back "down to business." to give you an understanding of how If you were a fan of the 2019 magazine, economic growth was achieved here in the you may find the look of this one very early days, and of how it's continued into familiar. There's a reason for that -- this today. issue of Down to Business has been The magazine, especially when combined planned and designed to be a companion with its 2019 companion, offers a nostalgic piece to that 2019 publication. That nod to Detroit Lakes' and Becker County's one was all about, "The Evolution of 150th birthdays, celebrated in 2021.

Downtown Detroit Lakes: 150 Years Ago As a part of that Sesquicentennial nod, to Today." we included a story about Detroit Lakes' This magazine sticks to that historical oldest continuous business, which is theme, but expands on it, reaching beyond celebrating its 150th anniversary this year the boundaries of downtown Detroit Lakes — the Detroit Lakes Tribune newspaper. to cover other economically vibrant parts We hope you'll forgive us that little of the city and surrounding Lakes Area. indulgence.

The theme of this magazine, "The So now, without further ado, let's get Evolution of a Tourist Town: 150 Years "Down to Business" — again!

This magazine is a companion piece to our last Down to Business magazine, published in 2019. That magazine was all about, "The Evolution of Downtown Detroit Lakes: 150 Years Ago to Today." This latest Down to Business expands on that historical theme, stretching beyond the boundaries of downtown to explore the birth of the local tourism industry. Read a digital version of the 2019 publication on the Detroit Lakes Tribune's online magazine rack, at dl-online. com (click on the "Magazine Rack" link in the Special Sections slider near the bottom of the homepage).

DETROIT LAKES NEWSPAPERS

Contents

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Publisher: Melissa Swenson mswenson@dlnewspapers.com

Railroads built this town: Trains brought people and progress to the little town of Detroit (now Detroit Lakes) ������������������������������������������������� 6 Rise of the resort industry: Places to play have always been key to Lakes Country tourism ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 12 Historic businesses along 'the strip': Dance halls, docks and other early West Lake Drive developments ����������������������������������������������������������������� 20 '150 years is a long time': A look back at the oldest continuous business in town, the Detroit Lakes Tribune ����������������������������������������������������������28

Washington Avenue in 1913. Photo courtesy of Becker County Museum

Magazine Editor: Marie Johnson mtjohnson@dlnewspapers.com Circulation Manager: Viola Anderson violaa@dlnewspapers.com Contributors: Marie Johnson mtjohnson@dlnewspapers.com Vicki Gerdes vgerdes@dlnewspapers.com Nathan Bowe nbowe@dlnewspapers.com Michael Acherling machterling@dlnewspapers.com Barbie Porter bporter@dlnewspapers.com Cover & Page Design: Mollie Burlingame mburlingame@bemidjipioneer.com On the Cover: A Soo Line section crew poses on the early railroad in the Detroit Lakes area. The heart of the railroad's maintenance crew, the section crew did everything from minor to major repairs, and used hand carts like this one to get to the work.

Photo courtesy of the Becker County Historical Society

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Engine 169, a Class D-2 locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company in 1907, stands ready to pull out of Detroit Lakes as the crew poses for a last-minute picture. The engine pulled both freight and passenger cars.

Railroads built this town Story by Nathan Bowe nbowe@dlnewspapers.com

Photos/illustrations courtesy of the Becker County Historical Society unless noted

6 | 2022 Down to Business

The Northern Pacific and Soo Line worked with the state of Minnesota to bring people to Detroit Lakes, including Civil War veterans and European immigrants

T

he railroad wasn’t just an early business in Detroit Lakes, it was the engine that allowed other early businesses, and the entire community, to thrive and grow.

Back in 1871, when the eastwest Northern Pacific Railway was built through the lakes area, it was an integral part of the community. It wasn’t like it is today, with those long Burlington NorthernSanta Fe trains and the long north-south Canadian Pacific trains mostly passing through Detroit Lakes on their way to someplace else.

These days, few local businesses are served by train. And the Empire Builder passenger train stops in town only in the wee hours of the early morning. But back then, the Northern Pacific was a key economic driver behind growth in the community.

The railroad, working with the state of Minnesota, brought in European immigrants and people from other parts of the country to settle here. Detroit Lakes started as a sort of “colony” of Civil War veterans and their families – who moved to Minnesota from the East Coast, many from Boston, to take advantage of the Additional Homestead Act passed by Congress in 1872, which qualified veterans for 160 acres apiece.

The railroad encouraged those veterans to take their acres from railroad lands on and along the newly-laid line. The veterans’ early influence can still be seen in Detroit Lakes street names – Union Street, Grant Street, Sherman Street.

Since cars weren’t around yet, and didn’t become affordable until the 1908 Model T, railroads were by far the best way to travel longer distances, and to move freight.

Early trains were much smaller than today’s, with far less powerful (steam) locomotives, but they were as much a part of everyday life then as cars are now.

Passenger trains made frequent daily stops, and all sorts of goods and equipment were constantly on the move. In smaller towns along the rails, like Detroit Lakes (then just called Detroit), one depot handled both passenger and freight traffic, and that was where the action was in the community.

“With its telegraph office, its mail and express service, and its full complement of daily passenger and freight trains, the local depot was the focal point of communication with the outside world,” wrote historian John F. Stover, as quoted by the National Register of Historic Places.

While nearly all of Minnesota’s 2,000 townships had at least a small crossroads center, with a grocery store, church and saloon, a town needed a railroad connection to become a larger retail center like Detroit Lakes, with dry goods stores, bakeries, specialty shops and services.

The "new" Northern Pacific Railway depot in Detroit Lakes was built in 1908 and was the subject of this 1909 postcard.

“With its telegraph office, its mail and express service, and its full complement of daily passenger and freight trains, the local depot was the focal point of communication with the outside world.”

-Historian John F. Stover

These men in their face-shading sombreros were part of a Soo Line work crew that came through Detroit Lakes in 1904.

2022 Down to Business | 7

In 1877, Northern Pacific lands were selling for $2.50 to $10 per acre, depending on how good the soil was and how close the land was to a railroad station.

CREWS KEPT BUSINESS CHUGGING ALONG

Railroad crews were resourceful: they built temporary rails across lake ice when needed, and had workarounds for trouble spots along their routes. One steeply inclined set of tracks in the Red River Valley needed three locomotives, permanently stationed there, to help trains to the top.

Those trains brought in farm implements, seed and hardware and foodstuffs, and moved out local products – like the thousands of blocks of lake ice, popular in the age before refrigeration, that were harvested each winter in Detroit Lakes and Frazee and then shipped off by rail.

But the big-ticket items for railroads were wheat and lumber, which trains transported to the big mills in the Twin Cities. In fact, some railroads were created to keep those grain mills supplied, and to add to the customer base for the resulting flour. The Soo Line, which came through Detroit Lakes in 1903, was one such railway.

Railroads also worked with religious organizations.

The Soo Line, for example, was the parent company of the Soo Line Catholic Colonization Company, which was instrumental in the settling of Belgian Catholics in Onamia, Minnesota, in 1912.

Railroads in this part of the country, which were granted large chunks of land along their routes, made it easy for settlers to buy land.

In 1871, Northern Pacific land could be had for a downpayment of 10%, plus seven yearly payments, with the unpaid balance carrying 7% interest.

Six years later, Northern Pacific lands were selling for $2.50 to $10 per acre, depending on how good the soil was and how close the land was to a railroad station.

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BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME

When the Soo Line came through Detroit Lakes in the early 1900s, a typical tie gang looked like this. Thanks to modern equipment, three or four men can now do the work of the dozen or so who were on a tie gang back then.

THANK YOU!

The growth of early Detroit Lakes corresponded with the golden age of railroads, from about 1865 to 1885.

Between 1860 and 1880, the population of Minnesota more than quadrupled, from about 172,000 to over 780,000. That influx was actively encouraged by the Northern Pacific and other railroad companies, which actively recruited immigrants in Europe, sometimes subsidized their travel, made it easy to buy land, and even provided resources for them to live on until they got established.

The Northern Pacific, for example, erected “reception houses” to host immigrants at Duluth, Brainerd and Glyndon. The largest, in Duluth, could house 100 people.

While the railroads played a role in clearing out some 50 million acres of old-growth Minnesota forests, they also played a role in planting new trees. The Northern Pacific implemented a system of tree nurseries along its rail lines, in part to help stop snow from blocking the tracks. The severe blizzard of January, 1873, had caused much loss of life in Minnesota.

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If approved, the recently-proposed Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway will be the only single-line railroad linking the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

A fair amount of that Canada-to-Mexico rail traffic will move through Detroit Lakes.

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William Crooks launched the Northern Pacific Railway, and brought his namesake locomotive to St. Paul on a riverboat.

While railroads were instrumental in business growth in early Detroit Lakes, they are, of course, a business themselves.

And that means ownership and name changes: In 1970, the Northern Pacific merged with the Great Northern, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railroads to form the Burlington Northern Railroad.

Those who grew up in that time won’t forget those green Burlington Northern locomotives.

In 1996, Burlington Northern acquired the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, which runs dozens of trains a day on its double-rail corridor through Detroit Lakes.

As for the Soo Line, in 1990 the Canadian Pacific Railway gained full control of the Soo Line Corp., and in the 2000s the Soo Line was consolidated into CP, which runs trains daily on a mostly single-track corridor that runs through Detroit Lakes.

CHANGE CONTINUES

The Canadian Pacific completed its acquisition of Kansas City Southern on Dec. 14, 2021, although the two systems will stay independent until the U.S. Surface Transportation Board gives its blessing.

If approved, the new Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway will be the only single-line railroad linking the United States, Mexico and Canada. And a fair amount of that Canada-to-Mexico rail traffic will move through Detroit Lakes. *Information for this story came from the Becker County Historical Society, the Minnesota State Historical Society and the National Register of Historic Places.

Train wrecks were all too common in the early days of Becker County. This Northern Pacific wreck at Detroit Lakes in June of 1903 killed the engineer.

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Rise of the resort industry From mom-and-pop cabins of the pioneer days to the on-demand Airbnb rentals of today, places to play have always been key to the tourism economy in Detroit Lakes

I

n 1962, Minnesota Governor Elmer L. Andersen sent a signed thank you letter to Mr. and Mrs. Fred Diles of Detroit Lakes, expressing his gratitude to the couple for hosting him at their small resort, Breezy Shores, on West Lake Drive along Detroit Lake.

“You certainly were wonderfully hospitable to all of us who had the pleasure of staying with you for the opening of fishing season,” the governor wrote. “Of course, we were glad to have such good luck on our opening fishing day and we hope that you will have a wonderful season throughout 1962.”

Breezy Shores is one of the dozens of small resorts that have called the Detroit Lakes area home for decades.

With its abundance of pristine waters, wilderness areas and get-away-fromit-all allure, the area has been, and continues to be, a tourism jewel in West Central Minnesota.

At the center of the bustling tourism industry have been numerous resorts,

12 | 2022 Down to Business

some of them passed down through generations, that have been used by countless thousands of visitors and have been the source of lifelong memories for every one of them.

From the very early days of the city’s establishment, resorts have been a significant contributor to the community’s economic health and wealth. Popular resort areas around Detroit Lake and the Pelican River chain of lakes, such as Shoreham, were daily drop-off and pick-up destinations for the steamboats that used to transport tourists in the late 1800s and early 1900s, before automobiles became the norm and a network of roads was established.

For decades beyond that era, the resort industry remained strong here.

In 1974, the Northwestern Minnesota Resort Association compiled a membership list with over 130 resorts and motels in the lakes area – and those were just the ones that were members.

The years since then have brought a

Story by Michael Achterling machterling@dlnewspapers.com

Photos/illustrations courtesy of the Becker County Historical Society unless noted

transformation in the resort industry, and the number of local resorts has declined significantly: in 2015, just 29 resorts were listed in the Becker County Visitors Guide, a publication of the Detroit Lakes Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Gone are the days of memorable getaways like Snyder’s Cottages and Thompson’s Resort on the south side of Detroit Lake, or Don’s Cabins and Fairyland Cabins on West Lake Drive along the lake’s northern shoreline.

Larger conglomerates have purchased some of the smaller operations, and in other cases, family-owned resorts have closed down when the kids or grandkids decide they don’t want to take over the family business. The modern ‘lake life’ landscape has become dominated by private lake homes and online shortterm rentals rather than the cozy vacation cottages of the past.

According to Explore Minnesota data provided by the Minnesota Department of Revenue, the state lost about 300

Swimmers line a wooden swimmers dock on Detroit Lake near the American Legion Tourist Camp. Year unknown.

▶

Visitors sit outside the cabin area at Lakeside Lodge and Cabins in Detroit Lakes. Year unknown.

▶

“Even going back a century ago, people were…getting out of the cities and traveling from other parts of the country to see what we’ve got here. So it’s a critical part of tourism, and it always has been and it's going to continue to be.”

-Ben Wogsland, executive vice president for Hospitality Minnesota resorts between 2004 and 2019, from 983 to 683 resorts statewide.

“You are getting some resorts that are growing and getting bigger, although there are challenges to that, and you are getting some that are just leaving the industry,” said Ben Wogsland, executive vice president for Hospitality Minnesota. “We’ve seen a trend across the country where investor class and hedge-fund folks are now investing in these short-term vacation rental properties as full-on commercial businesses, and at the same time, like elsewhere in the country, there has been a real challenge to figure out how

to regulate those things.”

Hospitality Minnesota is a nonprofit advocacy organization that works on behalf of the state’s lodging, resort and campground, and restaurant associations. The group promotes public policy initiatives for its members and also provides resources to help business owners in their respective industries.

“The counties have taken a countyby-county approach to try and strike that (regulation) balance, but in a lot of ways those (short-term vacation properties), although technically they probably qualify as hotels under the state statutes – and are supposed to be

paying the sales tax and lodging tax, and paying the licensing fees as a hotel to the department of health, and doing those inspections and fire inspections – the vast majority of them are not doing that,” he said. “They are not regulated, and so they’ve got, potentially, some competitive advantage there because they are not paying those costs and some of that red tape.”

A quick search of Airbnb for Detroit Lakes lists about 185 properties to pick from for a short-term rental, with prices ranging from $80 per night to nearly $600. Wogsland said that across Minnesota there are an estimated 8,000 2022 Down to Business | 13

listings on various short-term rental sites, giving tourists nearly unlimited options from which to pick their preferred amenities, locations and experiences.

“That counts everything from someone that is running it as a full-time business, like cabin rentals in Otter Tail or Becker counties, to someone that is renting out an apartment in downtown Minneapolis for a short-term vacation rental,” said Wogsland.

Labor shortages have greatly impacted the resort industry, as well, with owners needing to pay their staff more in order to remain competitive in a tight regional job market, which can strain an already strained bottom line.

But even with fewer resorts, tourism dollars spent inside the state have increased, from $227 million in 2004 to $321 million in 2019, according to Hospitality Minnesota’s data.

“Tourism dollars are going up, but if you adjust that for inflation, it’s actually a little bit less than we would have expected,” Wogsland said. “From talking with resorts all across the state, people want an experience – especially if you are going with your family, you want to be able to rent a boat, be at the lake, have activities for the kids, and have unique experiences that you are not going to have anywhere else.”

Becky Mitchell, executive director of the Becker County Museum, said that in our area of the state, family-owned resorts were relatively commonplace in previous decades, and were

▶ Exterior

view of the main lodge at Breezy Shores in Detroit Lakes. Year unknown. ▶ A cabin interior at Breezy Shores in Detroit Lakes. Year unknown.

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often multi-generational.

“I think they are slowly disappearing, and we have fewer and fewer of them, which is sad to see,” she said.

She also reflected on how the tourism landscape has changed in recent years.

“It’s a sign of the times, and change is hard, so maybe (online short-term rentals) are the next generation of a different version of a resort,” Mitchell said. “But, I think also just the amount of strain that those types of businesses (family-owned resorts) put on the entire family is probably a contributing factor.

We live in a society now where the world is at our fingertips, so it’s harder to engage those kids to make them want to work those family businesses.”

Even with the tourism tide turning more toward online rentals, Mitchell said Detroit Lakes’ local economy is still very dependent on those tourism dollars coming in every summer.

Wogsland said hospitality industries in Minnesota account for about 20% of the state’s sales tax total.

Without the tourism industry in Minnesota, he added, every family would pay an additional $625 in taxes to make up for the lost revenue.

“Minnesota is a special place,” he said. “The great outdoors that we have here, the land of 10,000 lakes… We’ve got rivers, we’ve got forests, we’ve got amazing access to the great outdoors. Even going back a century ago, people were doing that – getting out of the cities and traveling from other parts of the country to see what we’ve got here. So it’s a critical part of tourism, and it always has been and it’s going to continue to be.”

“I think they (resorts) are slowly disappearing, and we have fewer and fewer of them, which is sad to see… maybe (online short-term rentals) are the next generation of a different version of a resort.”

-Becky Mitchell, Becker County Museum executive director

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N...

LOOKING BACRKEO RTS TWO HISTORIC SO

SHOREHAM

The Shoreham area, on the southern shore of Lake Sallie, just southwest of Detroit Lakes, was developed by pioneer John K. West, and in 1910, the Hotel Shoreham was built. It quickly became a popular destination for guests coming to the area by boat, and for a time was one of the busiest stops along the Pelican Valley Navigation Company’s steamboat route through the Pelican River chain of lakes.

The area featured multiple opportunities for outdoor recreation, both on the water and on land.

In 1974, brothers Rick and Tom Lynch — along with partner Dan Gunderson — acquired the business, operating it as a bar and restaurant until 2011. Rick Lynch continued with the business until it was sold to Cole Hanson and Scott Schulte in 2014.

At that time, Hanson said he and Schulte were “very excited about the opportunity to continue running a Detroit Lakes icon.”

Lynch explained that the Hotel Shoreham began as an open-air meeting hall for a business that rented out cabins. He said windows were added to the open-air porch in the 1940s, and by the early ‘50s the Hotel Shoreham had turned into a drive-in burger joint — complete with carhops — that was connected to a mom-and-pop resort offering a small number of cabins for rent.

“It was a pretty popular spot back in the early ‘50s,” Lynch said, adding that in the ‘60s the couple who ran the business sold it to another couple, who removed the cooking equipment.

The property continued to operate as a small resort until Lynch and his business partners bought it and revived its original name.

FROM THE TOP:

▶ The Pelican River Navigation Company's

Mayflower steamboat drops passengers off at Pleasant Point, in the Shoreham resort area, in the early 1900s. ▶ The old diving dock at Pettibone Lodge, in the Shoreham resort area. ▶ Water sport at Pettibone Lodge, Shoreham, Minn. ▶ The Hotel Shoreham opened in the popular Shoreham resort area, on Lake Sallie, in 1910.

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THE EDGEWATER BEACH RESORT HOTEL

The Edgewater was Detroit Lakes’ first luxury resort hotel.

Frederick and Marie Wright purchased lake frontage at the edge of town in 1933 to build the family-oriented resort, and by 1936, they had opened a two-story, rustic-style chateau with a recreation room and four bedrooms. The following fall, five cottages with steam heat were available for rent; three more were added the next year. Only two of the cottages remain standing today.

According to the original owners’ son, Fred Wright, part of the charm of the Edgewater Beach cottages came from the construction method used to build them — the only known example of pioneer stovewood construction in Minnesota. In this energy-efficient design, walls were built of logs sawn into short sections and stacked with their cut ends facing out.

This form of architecture is more typical of northeastern Wisconsin than Minnesota, according to information provided by the Minnesota Historical Society. George Jewel was the carpenter.

“The logs were mostly tamarack and pine,” Wright said, with mortar in-between.

In 1989, the remaining Edgewater Beach cottages were placed on the National Register of Historic Places for its unique architecture and cultural significance to the area.

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& Cottages, from a 1960s-era promotional brochure.

Detroit Lakes Tribune file photo. ▶ The lobby of the Edgewater Beach Resort Hotel, in the early 1940s. Contributed / Fred Wright / 2019 file photo

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Historic T businesses along 'the strip' Early dance halls, docks and other developments helped shaped West Lake Drive into the hub of activity it is today

he strip of West Lake Drive that runs along Detroit Lakes’ wellknown mile-long beach has a rich history – one that tells the story of this longtime lake-centric tourist town’s evolving commercial endeavors.

Since its very beginnings as a city, Detroit Lakes has been home to multiple lakeshore resorts, hotels, restaurants, marinas and other businesses that have catered to visiting lake-lovers as well as seasonal and year-round residents.

While signs of Lakes Country’s luring tourism industry have long been found throughout the area, a concentrated hub of activity has always existed – and continues to exist – along that particular stretch of West Lake Drive; that avenue along the northern shoreline of Detroit Lake, from where the road curves off of Washington Avenue to run westward along the water’s edge, through to the Highway 6 intersection and beyond.

Today, this stretch is lined with notable Detroit Lakes establishments, like the flagship Zorbaz restaurant and Lakeside Tavern, and newer businesses like Hub 41 and Fairfield Inn and Suites. The Pavilion and City Park grace the strip’s eastern end; both play host to multiple private and community events every year.

The mile-long beach draws crowds all summer. A paved recreational path between the beach and the road gives bikers, dog-walkers and other pedestrians a fun spot to stretch their legs. The county fairgrounds are right off the strip, as are some newer pickleball courts and Peoples Park, where the local farmer’s market sets up shop in the summers.

In short, there’s a lot to love along West Lake Drive.

Story by Barbie Porter bporter@dlnewspapers.com

Crowds line West Lake Drive in 1936 during Detroit Lakes' second annual Water Carnival.

20 | 2022 Down to Business

Photos/illustrations courtesy of the Becker County Historical Society unless noted

But it wasn’t always this way. When the first settlers arrived in the late 1800s, there wasn’t much of anything in the way of development by the lake.

In fact, lake access in those early days was achieved via a hoof-worn cow path that led from town to the water. And originally, West Lake Drive was just a thin dirt road lined with trees on both sides.

It’s taken decades of hard work, ingenuity and fun-loving business savvy to turn the once-wild northern shoreline of Detroit Lake into the hub of public recreation and tourism that it is today.

THE BEGINNINGS OF A TOURISM HOT SPOT

One of the earliest establishments to take root along the West Lake Drive stretch – back when the community was known simply as Detroit, instead of Detroit Lakes – was Old Pioneer Resort, situated at the end of Lake Avenue and West Lake Drive. Historical records from the Becker County Museum show that an entrepreneurial man named August Guethling and his wife, Wilhelmina, purchased and renovated the Old Pioneer Resort after arriving in Detroit in 1884.

A newsletter written by local historian Fred Floan details that Guethling, a German immigrant, added boat leasing and a boat livery business to the resort’s amenities, and also opened a doubletrack bowling alley.

By 1889, a large dock was added to the resort, too, along with an elevated bandstand.

Two years later, in 1891, Guethling began construction on another endeavor: a two-story hotel located on the shore of Little Detroit Lake. Aptly named Lakeside Hotel, it stood in the spot where Lakeside Tavern is today.

The ground floor of Lakeside Hotel had a large dance hall, while the upstairs offered sleeping quarters. The inaugural dance in the hall was held May 28, 1891, and after that, dances continued to be held every Saturday night throughout the summers.

As Guethling’s vision for Lakeside Hotel grew, the building itself grew, too.

By that fall, he had added a 25-by-100foot building, with about 25 additional sleeping rooms. The addition was made, historical records report, to accommodate an influx in tourists.

The hotel became such a hot spot that Guethling was able to charge between $3-5 per week in 1896.

FROM THE TOP:

▶ A boat takes off from the dock at Clem’s in 1971. The old Elks

Club can be seen in the background.

Clem's Big Dock, in 1955, was a hub of water activity. The Pavilion can be seen in the background, in the upper left corner. ▶ The first steamboat landing on Detroit Lake opened in 1889, about where Washington Avenue meets the beach. ▶

2022 Down to Business | 21

A CONTINUING TRADITION OF FUN AT THE LAKE

Nearly 20 years later, Lakeside Hotel was still going strong as the Detroit Lakes Pavilion opened nearby, in 1915, offering another big dance venue on West Lake Drive.

The Pavilion opened with much fanfare, with a big band orchestra playing and ticketholders required to wear their finest outfits – ball gowns or suits – to attend the opening. Tickets were sold for 10 cents per dance, or 12 dances for $1.

The Pavilion quickly became a social hub for residents and visitors alike, and remained a popular dance hall through the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s, when big band orchestras and ballroom dancing were all the rage.

According to records at the museum, local hotel business was not hurt by the success of the Pavilion. Indeed, Lakeside Hotel continued to flourish throughout the early 1900s, even after August Guethling passed away in 1924, leaving his wife to operate the resort.

Luckily, she had her daughter and son-in-law, Fred Weiss, to help.

Weiss was an experienced hotelier, having bought the Park Hotel in Detroit Lakes in 1912, after previously working as a farmer in Lakeview Township. After a fire in 1916, he rebuilt the hotel, and in 1919, he sold the business to his son-in-law, Harry Woodhouse, intending to “retire from active work and…reside in a cottage for the summer” with his wife, as an old article states.

But Weiss was brought back into hotel management and ownership when his wife’s mother passed away in 1929. Changes to the popular venue soon followed: it was renamed Lakeside Lodge, the ballroom was discontinued, and a park area was added for visitors that wanted to camp.

One year in the late 1950s/ early 1960s, the Clem's Marina souvenir store sold 14,000 of their best-selling jumbo ice cream bars 22 | 2022 Down to Business

FROM THE TOP:

▶ The Detroit Boat Livery was opened in 1911 on Detroit

Lake by Fred Weiss Jr. ▶ Paddle-boaters enjoy a ride on Detroit Lake, near Clem's Big Dock boat rental business in the 1960s. ▶ In 1891, construction of a two-story Lakeside Hotel began, which was a hub for entertainment for visitors and residents.

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TAPPING INTO THE WATER’S POTENTIAL

Despite the success of those West Lake Drive hotels and dance halls, Weiss’s son, Fred Weiss Jr., saw untapped potential along the lakeshore.

Historical records show that around 1911 or 1912, Weiss Jr. opened the Detroit Boat Livery, located where the City Beach is today. The business consisted of a large dock with boat rentals, a swimming beach, and bathhouse. Bathing suits were rented out there, and swimming lessons were offered.

The livery drew customers to the lake in droves, and a toboggan slide was built in 1928. A diving tower and other recreational water toys and structures were also added during that era, adding to the environment of fun and activity.

At the ripe old age of 10, a local boy named Clem TeVogt began working at the Detroit Boat Livery, waking before dawn to get to work by 5 a.m. The hardworking boy was also employed at a dimestore downtown during his youth. He saved his earnings in hopes of one day purchasing the livery business for himself.

Three years after his 1942 graduation from Holmes School, TeVogt did just that. He purchased the marina from Weiss Jr., and the hotel was sold to Irvin Fingalson.

“I scrounged around and got a partner, and we bought it,” TeVogt recalled in an article in a summer 1992 issue of “Lakeside” magazine. “That was in 1945, and I operated for the first year in 1946 and then operated it continuously until 1975.”

TeVogt changed the name of the business to Clem’s Big Dock, and later to Clem’s Marina. Many people still fondly remember Clem’s today.

Mark TeVogt poses for a picture with his father, Clem, who owned Clem’s Marina for decades.

Contributed / Mark TeVogt

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Mark Thorson works at the shortlived hotdog stand on the Clem’s Marina dock. The stand was in operation for just one year.

Contributed / Mark TeVogt

▲ A view of West Lake Drive, as it appears today. ▼ The historic Detroit Lakes Pavilion, built in 1915, still stands today. There are plans to make improvements to the building in the foreseeable future.

Detroit Lakes Tribune file photos

26 | 2022 Down to Business

HOT DOGS, JUMBO ICE CREAM BARS AND ‘ROLLER COASTER RIDES ON THE WATER’: THE HEYDAYS OF CLEM’S After taking ownership of the boat livery, TeVogt installed a large umbrella-type covering over a portion of the dock, as most boats had two-cylinder engines and needed to be kept as dry as possible. He also added another dock that was reserved for privately-owned boats so visitors could more easily launch their own watercraft.

He rented pontoons, fishing boats, canoes and so forth, and also offered speedboat rides.

“He advertised them as ‘roller coaster rides on the water,’” recalled his son, Mark TeVogt, in a phone interview.

A busy time for those rides was after the sun went down and the moon rose; the drivers would follow the path cut by the moon. In the late 1940s, the business boasted seven boats with inboard motors, but none were equipped with lights.

Luckily, the only traffic the nighttime speedboat drivers had to concern themselves with were other Clem’s Marina drivers who were giving rides.

During the early years of operating the marina, TeVogt started a family, marrying Yvonne (Bursau) in 1946 and raising three children with her: Linda, Patty and Mark. The business became a family focal point, with everybody playing a role.

Linda Ditterich, the TeVogts’ oldest child, worked in the marina’s souvenir store, which was located between the Pavilion and the spot where J&K Marina is now.

“It was a little white building, and that is where I worked most of the time,” she said in a phone interview. When she reached ninth grade, she was given the supervisory duties of hiring and managing employees at the shop.

“The most popular item was the jumbo ice cream bars,” she recalled. “My parents took vanilla ice cream, cut it in squares, stuck a stick in it and covered it in

chocolate, then rolled it in nuts.”

One year, Ditterich said, the family made more than 14,000 jumbo ice cream bars.

Trinkets like jewelry boxes and moccasins, with the name Detroit Lakes stamped on them, were also popular souvenir shop finds for tourists. While Ditterich can’t recall exactly when the shop was torn down, she thinks it was around the time when the City Beach was built, in 1966.

Before that year, she said, much of the lakefront was

“My father was very ambitious, and it was infectious.”

-Mark TeVogt, son of Clem’s Big Dock owner Clem TeVogt

privately owned. Clem’s offered a place for the public to go and enjoy lake life, and it was usually busy.

“My father was very ambitious, and it was infectious,” Mark TeVogt said, adding that his favorite job at the marina was working at a short-lived hot dog stand that was set up at the end of the dock. While it was a hit with customers, it only lasted for a year due to strict food safety regulations.

After that, he said, “I putzed around doing different things at the dock. When I was 18, I started working full-time in the summer.”

With his dad ready to retire at that point, Mark TeVogt was given the option of buying the family business, but instead decided on a different path for himself. His future took him to Minneapolis, then 36 different countries before he eventually landed in Nebraska, where he finds the winters to be less harsh.

Clem TeVogt eventually found another buyer, who later sold the property to the current owner, J&K Marina, which opened in 1992.

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W ‘150 years is a long time’ A look at the history of the oldest continuous business in town, the Detroit Lakes Tribune

hen the community of Detroit, Minnesota — as Detroit Lakes was first called — was established in July of 1871, there was no newspaper in it.

But it wasn’t even a year later that the first issue of the Detroit Record went to press, on May 18, 1872.

William F. Ball was listed as its editor and publisher, and E.G. Holmes as proprietor. Its subscription price? An affordable $2 per year.

Over the next 150 years, the local newspaper would go through many changes – of name, ownership, technology and location. In fact, the Detroit Lakes Tribune, as it is now known, was originally a separate publication from the Record.

In an article that appeared on the front page of the Detroit Record’s first issue, Ball wrote: “With this present issue the RECORD begins its existence as a Becker County newspaper, Detroit City having become its place of permanent abode instead of Otter Tail City (where it was initially established).

“Of the many reasons which have combined together to cause this change, we need say but little. It is enough to say in this connotation that the prospects of Otter Tail City have become so impaired, at least for the present, through the treasonous betrayal of trust by some of its loudest mouthed supposed friends that that place no longer presents a paying field for the presentation of a newspaper enterprise.”

A PAPER MADE FOR ‘THE BETTERMENT AND GENERAL UPBUILDING OF THE COMMUNITY’

New editor George D. Hamilton rolled out his first issue of the Detroit Record – freshly renamed the Becker County Record – on Nov. 23, 1878.

Fifty years later, Hamilton wrote a column, titled “Reminiscences,” that appeared on the front page of the newspaper’s Dec. 7, 1928 issue. In it, he reflected back on all that had transpired since he had first come to the community half a century earlier.

The Becker County Record print shop, with editor George D. Hamilton at the forefront, as it appeared in 1906. The Record remained at this location until 1963, when it was consolidated with the Detroit Lakes Tribune and moved to new digs on Washington Avenue.

28 | 2022 Down to Business

Story by Vicki Gerdes vgerdes@dlnewspapers.com

Photos/illustrations courtesy of the Becker County Historical Society unless noted

LEFT TO RIGHT:

▶ This

Holmes Street building was home to the Detroit Record, later Becker County Record, from the early 1900s until 1963, when it was consolidated with the Detroit Lakes Tribune and moved to a building on Washington Avenue. ▶ The Forum Communications Printing plant in Detroit Lakes today, where the Tribune offices are now located. Detroit Lakes Tribune file photo

“The Record office was then located in a small frame building on the present site of the Northern Pacific freight station,” he wrote.

“Mr. Ames returned to Wisconsin after we put out one or two issues of the paper, and only returned two or three times for short visits, and after the first year he decided there was not enough in the business to support two people, and suggested I give him my note for the original purchase price, payable ‘when convenient.’

“The equipment of the office when we took it over consisted of an old Hoe hand press that had seen much service, and had not stood the strain any too well; a case of well worn type, an imposing stone just large enough to enable that making up of a one page form. There was no paper cutter and for this service a jack-knife and straight edge were used. It was under these conditions that I managed to get out our first issue of the Record on Nov. 23, 1878.

“I think it was of 250 copies, and I was as proud of the product as a mother dog is of a litter of newborn puppies.

Advertising was practically a trade proposition, and the only way in which the merchant could be induced to take space was to run up a bill and then make him understand that advertising space was our only source of payment.

“Subscriptions were largely paid in cord wood, vegetables or any commodity that could be used or traded. Practically the only cash available was derived from the publication of legal notices, required by law and payment fixed by the statutes.

This kept the wheels going round — but I believe there was only one wheel that was attached to the small pob press that had seen much service.

“And these are the conditions under which a young man labored in attempting to establish a readable newspaper in a frontier town; but withal they were happy days.

“As Detroit grew to a thriving city of importance, improvements were gradually made and the Record became one of the prosperous businesses of the county. The circulation steadily increased until it covered the county thoroughly, and I believe I may say without seeming egotism, wielded considerable influence for the betterment of the community.

“After 33 years of newspaper work the Record was sold to Lou Benshoof and A.T. Thompson, September 1911, and I am pleased to note that it has continued to prosper and that the general policy of the betterment and general upbuilding of the community has been consistently and ably maintained.”

MERGERS, NAME CHANGES AND ‘STRENGTHENING THE TRIBUNE BRAND’

Benshoof and Thompson operated the Record together for 36 years, until January of 1946, when Lou’s son, Byron “Jack” Benshoof, returned from military service and became its editor, with Lou stepping back from the business. A year later, Jack and his partner Roger Hamilton — George’s grandson — purchased the business from Lou. (At one time, Roger was also associated with the staff of the Tribune.)

Like many frontier communities of the time, rival publications cropped up. The newspaper that would later become the Detroit Lakes Tribune had its beginnings as the Detroit Quiver in November 1907, under the ownership of M. Kihn.

The name was changed to the Detroit Herald in 1911, the Detroit News-Tribune on April 3, 1924, and the Detroit Lakes Tribune on Nov. 4, 1926, according to the book “Images of America: Detroit Lakes,” published by the Becker County Historical Society in 2012.

In May 1961, Willard “Bill” Robbins purchased the Record, along with the Town & Country Shopper — which had been established 15 months prior — from Benshoof and Hamilton, taking 2022 Down to Business | 29

over the business on June 3. Benshoof and Hamilton stayed on with the paper for a time.

A couple of years later, on Oct. 9, 1963, Lakes Publishing Co. purchased the Record and Town & Country, along with the Detroit Lakes Tribune. The new owners — J. Allan Cramer, John Meyer and Richard Knowles — were all experienced newspapermen, from Iowa and Nebraska.

Robbins stayed on as the newspaper’s editor, while Meyer became its publisher.

Meyer continued to serve as publisher of both newspapers until Detroit Lakes Newspapers — including both the Record and Tribune, as well as the Park Rapids Enterprise and commercial printing operations in Hawley and Detroit Lakes — was sold to Forum Publishing Company, now known as Forum Communications Company, in 1985.

From the time that Lakes Publishing Company purchased the two newspapers in 1963 until the summer of 2015, the papers remained separate publications, though they shared staffing and office space for more than 50 years.

In 2011, they were joined by the Lake Area Press, another local shopper, which was purchased by Forum Communications and became part of Detroit Lakes Newspapers. It continued to be published every Saturday until its last issue in May 2020.

Dennis Winskowski, who was publisher of Detroit Lakes Newspapers from 1987 until early 2015, said that at one time there was a fierce rivalry between the Tribune/Record and the Lake Area Press.

“We competed, but we stayed on good enough terms that both sides were able to come together and merge those two publications,” he said, adding that it was “a great day for the town, too,” because the newspapers’ resources were being funneled into making them a better product overall, rather than fueling a rivalry.

The Tribune and Record were both published weekly, on Sundays and Wednesdays, respectively, until Sunday, Aug. 2, 2015, when the Becker County Record ceased publication and

30 | 2022 Down to Business

was absorbed into the Detroit Lakes Tribune, which is now published twice a week on Sundays and Wednesdays.

In the issue that the change was announced, publisher Mary Brenk was quoted as saying, “With this change we can streamline so many processes and alleviate confusion with readers and advertisers alike. We are looking forward to really strengthening the Tribune brand throughout our community and making it instantly recognizable as the regional newspaper.”

ADAPTING AND THRIVING IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Detroit Lakes Newspapers has had a presence on the World Wide Web with its website, dl-online.com, since 1997. Over the years, the website has undergone several design changes, as its subscriber base gradually overtook its print counterpart.

When Brenk took over from Winskowski as publisher of Detroit Lakes Newspapers (which then included the Record, Tribune, and Lake Area Press) in January of 2015, she disputed the prevalent belief that newspapers were a dying form of mass communication.

“I’ve had people ask me, ‘Aren’t newspapers dying?’, but the fact is, we’re not dying, we’re growing,” said Brenk. “We have a very strong digital presence on dl-online.com, and we are reaching even more people than we ever could with print alone.”

She noted that the newspaper’s digital platform had become an increasingly important part of the business, providing immediate news information to readers and giving local businesses “incredible opportunities.”

“It allows them to reach local customers, regional, national — even customers around the world if that’s what they want,” she added.

Current publisher Melissa Swenson

“I was as proud of the product as a mother dog is of a litter of newborn puppies.”

-Pioneer-era editor George D. Hamilton, recalling how he felt after rolling out his first issue of the paper said digital media has allowed the newspaper to more than double its readership since the early 2000s.

“With the Record and the Tribune, we had a combined circulation of over 14,000,” Swenson said. “Now, between print and online, we can instantly reach over 30,000 readers a week.”

Today, a digital subscription to the Detroit Lakes Tribune will get readers access to all of Forum Communications’ publications online, which means it is a gateway to news from around the globe — especially this little corner of it, as the company has media outlets not just across Minnesota, but also in Wisconsin and both North and South Dakota.

“Company-wide, we have over 5 million readers,” Swenson said. “Social media contributes to that.”

Social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, “have become interwoven with the fabric of people’s lives,” she added. “They look to social media for their news and information.

People check their news feeds multiple times a day. We have the number one website in the area for a reason, and a lot of that (website traffic) is fed by social media.”

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