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Berglund & Peterson Store

 

In 1904, the Swedish Mission Church at 807 North Fourth Street was sold by the Congregation in order to build a new larger church at 320 North Fourth Street. This original church building, built in 1882, was converted in 1905 from a church to a neighborhood grocery, hardware, and feed store known for the first twenty years of its life as the Berglund & Peterson store. Carl Berglund lived nearby at 702 North Fourth Street, and Carl E. Peterson lived at 318 W. Hickory Street. Their first store had been across the street at 804 North Fourth Street.

The second part of this Fourth and Hickory Streets "shopping complex" was across the street, at 808 North Fourth Street where the North Hill Meat Market was run by Edward Johnson. But this corner as a place to shop goes back to the 1880s when William Smithson sold "staples and fancy groceries" out of his store at 802 North Fourth Street.

This building at 807 North Fourth Street continued to serve as a grocery store through the 1940s when it was owned by George Robertson, and through the 1950s and 1960s when it was known as the North Fourth Street grocery. During all these years, the Johnson meat market remained in business across the street.

In the 1950s the upstairs of the building was turned into two apartments, and additional windows were added on the second floor.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the building served a variety of retail uses, open to the public. In 1991, Tim Stefan, an architect, and his wife, Amy, a landscape architect, purchased the building. They did considerable renovation on the building, and created the offices that are there today. In 1993, Brian Larson, another architect, joined the firm to make it Stefan Larson Associates. In 1999, the Stefans moved to Montana, and Ron Brenner joined Brian Larson to make the firm Larson Brenner Architects. In 2004, Brian Larson and his wife became the sole owners of the building.

In the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, everyone shopped at the neighborhood grocery stores. During a time when everyone walked to their destination, it was crucial that stores be near their customers. Throughout Stillwater, like every city in America, there were many small grocery stores and meat markets. For a short time in the 1890s, the duplex at 1124 North Second Street had a grocery store on the first floor. In the 1880s, there was a grocery store at 623 North Fourth Street. Today, of all the neighborhood grocery stores that once existed in Stillwater, only one—which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary—remains at Myrtle and Owens Streets.

See also the history of 320 N. 4th St.

Source(s): Information complied by Donald Empson, Empson Archives on 2/28/2009. The Stillwater City Directories over the years illustrate the uses of the building. Berglund & Peterson appears in the Business Review in the Stillwater Messenger, June 22, 1907. The Sanborn Insurance maps from 1898 to 1924 depict both the church and the grocery store as well as the stores across the street. Brian Larson, the current owner, was very helpful.

Washington County Parcel Identification Number (PIN): 2803020120012

Common Property Name: Berglund & Peterson Store

Neighborhood: Carli and Schulenburg Addition

State Historic Preservation Office Inventory Number: WA-SWC-1129

Construction Date: 1882

Builder:

Architect:

Architectural Style: Vernacular