Historic Grand Marais Photos

I decided to look through the museum's archives and scan a few historic photos for today's blog update. The first is a shot taken from the bottom of Lake Avenue at the corner north of what is now Bayshore Market looking south up the hill. This corner marks the beginning of M77, which had been constructed in 1919 (based on documents at the state's History Museum). As you can see, gasoline was readily available at the same spot that still marks Grand Marais' only gas station. Note the wood piled between the last two buildings on the right side of the picture. It was piled there after the Schnieder Mill closed providing a ready source of fuel wood for towns people during the depression years.



The first mill in Grand Marais was started by the Brazel brothers in 1879. They moved to Grand Marais from the Cheboygan area. A mill operated out of that location until 1909 when it was closed permanently. The township marina is now located on this land. The street on which the Gitche Gumee Museum resides is named after the Brazel brothers.



The picture below was taken in 1927 from the southeast corner kitty-corner from where the Woodland Park office is now located. Notice that Brazel Street consists of a double set of two tracks. Cars parked on the rutted road are owned by members of the Finn Lutheran Church (notice the church steeple). The land that is now Woodland Park was donated to the town by Henry Gamble, who owned the Grand Marais Lumber Company. The house on the right side of the picture was owned by my great-grandparents.