ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- Earlier this week we told you about a couple of new businesses coming to vacant buildings along West St. Germain Street in downtown St. Cloud.

O'Brien's Dry Goods is moving into the 611 building. Danique: Beauty and The Beans is moving into the 706-708 building.

We know that Paddy's Game Shoppe was in the 706-708 building for 16 years and that Tradehome Shoes was the longtime tenant of the 611 building.  But, we asked the folks at the Stearns History Museum to help us dig a little deeper and learn more about those two buildings in St. Cloud's historic downtown.

First, the 611 building:

1971 photo from Stearns History Museum
1971 photo from Stearns History Museum
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According to the museum archives dating from 1937, the Kraemer Cigar Store opened on that site in the 1870s and was purchased by John Schumaker in 1885.  He opened a shoe store at that location.  He ran the store until he retired in 1928.  The Schiff Shoe Co. then operated the store before becoming Tradehome Shoes.

1973 photo from Stearns History Museum
1973 photo from Stearns History Museum
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O'Brien's Dry Goods
O'Brien's Dry Goods
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Next, the 706-708 building:

1895 photo from Stearns History Museum
1895 photo from Stearns History Museum
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According to the Stearns History Museum archives from 1937, A.J. Daniel opened a furniture store on the site in 1881.  Before that, it was a blacksmith shop in the 1860s. The Daniel company remained there for several years until they moved to their location on 7th Avenue North.  The site then was the home of a jewelry store until 1916.  1921 it was leased to Red Owl Stores Incorporated, which was still operating there in 1937.

Danique photo by WJON.com's Jim Maurice
Danique photo by WJON.com's Jim Maurice
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Perhaps the most interesting discovery is an article from 1924 about plans to build a 'sky-scraper' on the 706-708 site.  The newspaper article says, "The only thing lacking to make St. Cloud the metropolis of the northwest was a real sky-scraper." A man by the name of Morris Fink had made an investment in the Granite City and planned to have the construction of the tall building start by 1927.  At the time the building was occupied by Becker Confectionary on one side and Red Owl on the other side.  Their leases were set to expire in 1927.  Fink wanted to build an eight-story office building, which would have been St. Cloud's tallest building.

Of course, we know the 'sky-scraper' never got built.  And, we also know that Red Owl didn't leave that location in 1927 when their lease expired because they were still there at least until 1937.

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