LET'S GO FIRST CLASS across America: Part 8 - Plus a BONUS!

Here's the second oldest card I collected as a child. The Northern Motel in Indiana. Alas, it seems to be gone having been replaced by a Days Inn. No sense getting an image from today; we all know what it's going to look like.

Click on either image to see it larger.

This little motel looks like so many I remember. There was a sameness to a lot of these places, but they were more personal since a family ran it and not a corporation. You didn't expect to find cookie cutter sameness across the country. Now you can go to Days Inn in every state and eat at a Denny's and feel like you never left home. For some that makes travel seem secure. The food and lodging each night is the same and they don't even need to watch local tv channels because we're all hooked into the same networks.

You really have to spend some extra time looking for what once was America. The question is are people willing to spend the time doing that? I think a handful of us still are.
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UPDATE: It's time to head out to find AMERICA

Last year I did a post about the card below. Today I heard from a relative who is the grandchild of the man who built this station.

The emails reads:

The (this) Log Cabin Service Station was built in 1925 by my grandfather, Charles G. Lindquist.



This article gives some history about it. The 'Jim Knapp' in the article is my father.

And here is the article they referenced from the April 21, 2007 Fergus Falls Journal:

Fergus Falls retiree Jim Knapp’s grandfather, C.G. (Charles) Lindquist, came to Fergus Falls in 1925 from Fairmont, N.D., and built the Log Cabin gasoline station on the southwest corner of Lincoln and Vine, where Century 21 now stands.

Even though the Log Cabin has been gone since the mid-1960s, its memory lives on — through ceramic replicas. One is owned by Knapp and his wife, Janet.

“It’s a prized possession,” Janet said, “especially in light of the historical ties of the Log Cabin to Jim’s family.”

Jim’s cousin, Joe Forbes of Bemidji, also has a ceramic Log Cabin. Another Log Cabin ceramic replica, part of the House in Snow Village collection produced by Department 56 of Minneapolis — just like the one owned by the Knapps — is treasured by Obert and Mary Houg of Fergus Falls.

“Our daughter Sally saw the replica in Fargo and bought one for Obert as a Christmas gift in 1999,” Mary said. “Sally and our other daughter, Jill, remember eating at the Log Cabin lunchroom with Obert and me back in the 1960s, after some of Obert’s softball games.”

The lunchroom was added to the Log Cabin several years after the original construction in 1925. A long counter for customers faced Lincoln Avenue, to the north, and a second counter faced eastward, toward what’s now Service Food.

C.G. (Charles) Lindquist operated an oil business in Fairmont prior to moving to Fergus Falls and running the Log Cabin starting in the mid-1920s. Before that he was in the shipping business at Big Stone Lake and Lake Traverse. He began his business career as an elevator operator at Diamond, S.D., a town that no longer exists.

The Log Cabin survived a serious fire in 1930, only five years after it was built. The pumps and tanks were not damaged, so gasoline and oil service went on uninterrupted. But much of the wood was damaged and had to be replaced.

The father of Charles Lindquist — Jim Knapp’s great-grandfather John Lindquist — fought in the Civil War with the Minnesota One fighting unit. His final resting place is at Ortonville where veterans pay homage at his gravesite each Memorial Day.

Charles Lindquist sold the Log Cabin station in 1946, after 21 years of ownership.

John Schrom ran the Log Cabin gas station and lunchroom in the 1950s and early 1960s. Eventually the station made way for the Western Station, one of the early convenience stores in Fergus Falls, established in the late 1960s.

The Log Cabin lunchroom later was moved to Wendell and is now part of the Wendell Cafe owned by Diane and Rick Branson.

Today the renovated Holiday Station on South Union Avenue in Fergus Falls reminds many old-timers of the Log Cabin that once stood at the southwest corner of Lincoln and Vine.

“It’s fun to remember the former eating establishments and other businesses from bygone years in downtown Fergus Falls,” Houg said. “And It’s nice to know that we have family and historical ties to the Log Cabin through the Knapp family.” (SOURCE: Fergus Falls Journal)

Once again a little piece of paper ends up telling a story.

Thank you to the family of Mr. Lindquist for providing this information. I really appreciate it.

It's time to head out to Find AMERICA

What say we take a tour around the country, circa mid-to-late last century? Not sure where this will take us, but the open road is before us and we have unlimited time.

First stop...Fergus Falls, MINN!

Click on image to see it larger.

What a dandy place this is! I've seen this card elsewhere online, but have not found any information about the Lindquist Oil Company nor what became of this great looking gas station.

As to Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Thanks to good old Wikipedia I know I'm not going to Fergus Falls in the winter. January, average high 16. January, average low -3. I live in California, we think twice before leaving the house when it's raining. So we won't be traveling through this part of the country in the winter. Good thing we're doing it now. July, average high 80. July, average low 60.

So lets stop for a moment and soak up a little history about the town which surrounded this little post card gem:

The falls from which the city gets part of its name were discovered by Joe Whitford (a Scottish trapper) in 1856 and which was promptly named in honor of his employer, James Fergus. It is not known whether James Fergus ever visited the city, but Joe Whitford did not live to see the city develop, as he became one of the many victims of the 1862 Sioux uprising in western Minnesota. In 1867, George B. Wright was at the land office at St. Cloud and found Whitford's lapsed claim, purchased the land, and built what is now the Central Dam in downtown Fergus Falls around 1871. After Wright died in 1882, his son Vernon would move from Boston to Minnesota and take over his father's interests in the town. Vern Wright would also be one of the two people who established the Otter Tail Power Company in 1907. The city was incorporated in the late 1870s and is situated along the dividing line between the former great deciduous forest of the Northwest Territories to the East, and the great plains to the West, in a region of gentle hills, where the recent geological history is dominated by the recession of the glaciers from the last great Ice Age, with numerous lakes and small rivers about.

Two major tornadoes hit Fergus Falls during the early 20th century, the second, the 1919 Fergus Falls tornado, being the greater. The only Church edifice left standing after the great cyclone was the predominantly-black Baptist church. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

Okay, everyone back in the car and let's head out to see what's next.

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Need something to read to bring back those fond memories of funny buildings? Back when architects need not show up because some guy had already sketched out his building design on a napkin? Well have I got the book for you. I've mentioned this book in the past. It's so much fun to look through. Page after page of amazing old roadside attractions. Buildings that screamed "STOP HERE!" The book is called California Crazy and Beyond by Jim Heimann. Yes, the book is full of the funny old buildings that once were all over this fine crazy state, but there are plenty crazy buildings to go around.

How about the airplane crashed onto the roof of the William Penn Diner in Delaware? The giant cash register in Dayton, Ohio back in 1918? The Coffee Pot in Austin, Indiana? The Fish Inn in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho? Or the Pig Barbecue in Harlington, Texas? I imagine they're all gone, replaced by corporate plastic fantastic.

I do believe Orange World in Kissimmee, Florida still exists. Tail o' the Pup hot dog stand is still in Los Angeles as is, I believe, the GIANT donut. Good times. Really good times. I'm glad someone put all of this together in one place. I can sit and look through this book for hours.

Next stop? Who knows.