Today's Past and Present 

The Past  is the First Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Grand Marais, on what was known at the time as St. Paul Avenue. The corner stone of this building was put in place on July 24th of 1903. The building was used as a Lutheran church until February 21, 1960 and later sold to ISD# 166 (or good old Cook County School system) in 1961. It was used as kindergarten and special education classrooms until the early 70's.

I remember one time my Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Backlund, (no relation) had me stand out in the entry area for giggling and talking (she said I was skylarking) during nap time. I think it was February or March, as it was a long cold wait for the rest of my classmates to wake up.

I don't like taking naps to this day. You never know what you might miss. 

The Present  is what's known today as the home of Betsy Bowen's Studio woodcut.com/about.html and Lola's Sweet Life Bakery. The current address is now 1st Ave W. If you happen to be in Grand Marais, check these places out.

Note: The home to the left of the church is Mathias Johnson's house. He was the founder of the First Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Grand Marais. You know Matt, from Matt's Store fame? (See the Local Activities drop down button below the Blog button) Also, If you look closely you can see a cow wandering across the street toward the old boardwalk toward Matt's house. Kinda cool huh?