MATTHEW K HARTMAN, photographer
Lyceum/Former Paint and Glass
HISTORY of the FORMER CROOKSTON PAINT & GLASS BUILDING
The former Crookston Paint & Glass Building at 107-109 W Robert Street has housed many businesses since it was built in 1897. We refer to it as one building today, yet it was built as two buildings each 25’ wide which was typical for a downtown store. J. Jorgenson built the building after filing an easement agreement to anchor into the wall of the Odd Fellows Building (Union Building). Mossefin & Co. had its offices there for several years on the east side (107 W Robert) while O.C. Rood occupied the west side (109 W Robert).
“Mossefin & Lindel These gentlemen are the proprietors of the only merchant tailoring establishment in Crookston. Their store is a large handsome building on Robert Street between Main and Broadway. Here they keep constantly on hand a fine assortment of domestic and imported cloths, cassimere and other notions suitable for gentlemen’s clothing. In the selection of this stock they have displayed great taste. Knowing, however, that a well fitting and nicely made garment is as desirable as the quality of the material of which it is made, these gentlemen, besides joining to their business the benefits of their long experience and entire attention, employ only first class workmen, so that they are able to guarantee a first class fit and an article in every way satisfactory to the purchaser.”
Quote form page 126 of Carrere, John F. “Commerce and Manufacturers of Crookston 1882, Minnesota Historical Society.
Here is a complete chart of the occupants of the building over the years:
107 W Robert St (East building) 109 W Robert (West Building)
- 2009 vacant Happenstance
- 2007 vacant vacant
- 1968? Crookston Paint & Glass Crookston Paint & Glass
- 1967 Rock's Jewelry Crookston Paint & Glass
- 1964 Rocks Jewelry Crookston Paint & Glass
- 1963 Rocks Jewelry Crookston Paint & Glass
- 1961 Associated Htg Eng Crookston Paint & Glass
- 1958 Associated Htg Eng Crookston Paint & Glass
- 1956 Associated Htg Eng Crookston Paint & Glass
- 1952-53 Associated Htg Eng Crookston Paint & Glass
- 1949 Associated Htg Eng Crookston Paint & Glass
- 1040-41 Morris Kohn dry goods - owner Arne O. Busterude Hdwe
- 1935 Charlie's Place, Charlie Lowe Sally Ann Bakery
- 1930 Erick Klemesrud Shoe Repair Sally Ann Bakery
- ? Jim Noah - Shoe Shiner Sally Ann Bakery
- 1915-1916 Albin Anderson Monroe & Rapin
- 1911 The Emporium J.A. Backen
- 1908 Lyceum Theatre J.A. Backen
- 1906 M.A. Bratrud-jewelry, clockmaker C.D. Billings
- 1904 Edward Mossefin O.C. Rood
- 1899-00 Mossefin & Co.- tailor J. Jorgenson
The Lyceum Theatre in 1908 must have held vaudeville shows like the Grand Theatre. The Minnesota Historical Society has a picture of the storefront during the 1940’s when the Arne O. Busterude Hardware store occupied the West Building. See their website at: We can guess that the storefront was remodeled in the fifties or sixties by Crookston Paint & Glass or Rock’s Jewelry. That’s the era when the trend was to cover the historic original storefronts with a plastic finish in hues of aqua, rose, lemon, and gray. In many cases this is what protected those buildings that had wood columns or wood faced columns and only small amounts of metal trim.
Built of yellow Chicago brick, (still available from salvage yards @ .93 per brick!) this one story building set used to have the typical historic storefront with a doorway in the center of each building. The East side building has a beautiful tin ceiling hiding under a suspended ceiling. A rich cornice shows up underneath as well, but only on the west side of the East building. Was that cornice outlining a stairway to the basement? If so, it was right behind the window display. Such mysteries! We won’t be able to really tell, until we rip out the 70’s shag carpet and the paneled walls. There was a building at one time, to the east of the East Building and between it and the corner building what I call the Osman Drug Store Building simply because I don’t have the history done yet. You can see it in the historic pictures. When it was torn down, I’d like to know, since the vacant lot it created, along with a lack of attention to maintaining a drainage swale to the alley cause extensive moisture damage to the east basement wall.
The Morris Kohn family owned the building since the 1940’s until it was donated to the Prairie Skyline Foundation, Inc. in 2007. The family did take advantage of the City’s Downtown Rehab campaign funded in the mid-nineties by the MN Dept of Economic and Employment, and installed a new roof. At this time, the basement cave-in has been repaired, but more bracing needs to be done as well as breaking up the concrete parking area and sloping both the east and south wall to the alley drain. Then, a lot of tuck pointing and removing the stucco on the front of the East building can be completed. Storefront renovation estimates are $7,000 per storefront, so that is a project for the future.