Building aSuperior foundation

Alook at two of the city’s oldest buildings

By Maria Lockwood mlockwood@ superiortelegram.com

Among the oldest buildings stillstanding in Superior are the Trade &Commerce Building and the Berger Hardware building

While they house different businessestoday than whenthey were originallybuilt,historicalrecords detail their colorful pasts.

Trade &Commerce Building

The Trade &Commerce Building at 619 HammondAve.was listedon the NationalRegister of HistoricalPlaces in 1979

Thefive-story sandstone structure was built in 1890 by Henry Minot, director of theEastern RailwayCo. of Minnesota, an affiliate of the Great Northern Railway Line.The walls, according to thenomination form,are 3feet thickat the base.

It was designedby Clarence Johnston, a prominent St. Paul architect who also designed the State Historical Society Building and State Office Building.The Trade&Commerce Building was built to house officesfor the grainindustry, butnever did due to Minot’s death shortly after constructionwas complete. For thenextfew years, the buildinghousedvarious offices, the court and the public library,but was never fully occupied.

In 1904, the city of Superior bought the structure for useascity hall. The buildingcost $115,000 to construct, but the city only paid abouthalfthat, according to theNational Register of HistoricPlaces nomination form.During the yearsitserved as city hall,the building was the center of much of Superior’s community activity.

Alarge two-story wing was added to the north in 1918 to housethe police station andjail. AJune 10, 1918, Telegram picture shows the building under construction behindpolice officers preparingfor a“slacker raid”toround up men andcheckiftheywere registered forthe draft. Priortothe addition, the jail was housed in abuildingfurtherback on thelot,which can be seen in the 1914Sanborn Fire InsuranceMap of the area.

Thecity remainedin the building until 1970, whenanew county-city complex was completed Accordingtothe nomination form, thebuilding was in dangerofdemolitionin1979 unless renovationwork was begun.

The structure was revitalized into the Historic Trade &Commerce Marketplaceinthe 2000s andcurrently houses a number of businesses, including SpiritRoom andLuke Chiropractic and Wellness.

Browse alisting of historic places through the Wisconsin Historical Societywebsite

Berger Hardware building

Knowntothe communityasthe Berger Hardware building,525 TowerAve.was originally builttohouse Lurye Furniture.

The furniture store was completedata cost of $60,000,accordingtoan articleinthe Oct. 18-19, 1919 SuperiorTelegram. The brick and concrete structure encompasses threefloors and amezzanine, atotal of 31,000 square feet.

“The contract for the building waslet on May 20 and EdwardI.Lurye, manager of the store believesthatthe quick completionhas set a record for construction in Superior,”the article read.

It remained Lurye’s until 1937, according to city directories. It was listedasvacant in 1938. By 1940, it was Berger Hardware. The building remained under the Berger name into the 2000s, when it was listed as Berger Hardware and Antiques.

Morerecently,the site at 525 Tower Ave. has been home to Mama Get’s Restaurant, Marlee’sCaribbeanRestaurant and now Level UP game store, which opened in 2016