Gold Medal Flour mural discovered on a south Minneapolis home becomes a portal to the past
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
When architect George Johnson ripped off the siding of his south Minneapolis home earlier this summer, he never could have imagined the adventure it would take him on.
But after uncovering two massive Gold Medal Flour ads covering the side walls, he set out on a mission to find out more about the history of the house and the neighborhood.
For the last few months, Johnson has been digging up archival records and poring over newspaper clippings.
It’s a journey that’s taken him across centuries of local history — dating all the way back to pre-Colonial Minnesota when Minnehaha Avenue was a Native American trail.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
“That was really fascinating, that this existed and people have been going in front of my house for hundreds of years,” Johnson said.
Fast-forward some, and the area eventually developed into a prominent African American community.
“Our fire station — it was a fire station; no longer — just a couple blocks to the west of me on Hiawatha [Avenue] was the first African American fire station."
But the origins of the house and the ads can be traced back to the early 1910s.
As it turns out, Johnson’s home was actually first a grocery store built by the Sorby family on a different nearby lot. And the Gold Medal ads were plastered up at some point during this time.
It soon changed hands to a man named August Filbach. Then, tragedy struck.
“In June of 1915, there was a fire. And so the store burned. Apparently not enough that the side walls were affected, but he apparently lost everything because shortly after that he left and went back to Wisconsin,” Johnson said. “He was a farmer for the rest of his life.”
The next chapter of the house’s history is a strange one.
A doctor by the name of Marvin Hatch and his wife, Violette, bought the store after the fire and moved it to where it is today. But the bad luck continued, Johnson said.
“Seven days after that building was moved, the police raided his office and his home. They had found out that he was running an underground abortion clinic out of the home next door to us to the south,” Johnson said. "He was tried four times and multiple women died through his practice,” Johnson said. “I don't know — is he doing something wrong? Is he unskilled? Is that pretty normal rates? That's the kind of information I want to understand.”
Johnson hasn’t found the answers yet. But he did find out Dr. Hatch was convicted and served time at Stillwater prison before moving to Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, the saga of Johnson’s house continued. The longest tenant was the Pierro family. The Pierros are etched in the public record for a physical altercation with a neighbor: A fight started by Mr. Pierro that ended with his son striking the neighbor on the head with a screwdriver.
"So, this guy lived in my house for 30 years and I believe passed away in there. That’s the reason when I shut off the lights and come walking up out of the basement, I run,” Johnson said.
Learning about all the people who came before him has changed how Johnson sees his house.
"I feel like I have all these roommates,” Johnson said. "You know, I think about now as I walk through it: ‘Oh, yeah they did because of that,’ or, ‘I wonder which one of them did that.’ They put a dart board up on a door in the living room and filled it with holes — who would’ve done that?"
While he certainly still has more questions, his focus right now is to raise enough money to get one of the ads preserved so that it can be kept open to public viewing. But with brutal Minnesota winter on the way, he’s in a race against time.
"We’re trying to limit it to the first week or two of October for the work.”
It'll be a dash to the finish, but for Johnson it’s worthwhile to preserve such a unique portal to the past.
