62 & 66 Main - The Laundry Room / Calico Cat

62 & 66 Main - The Laundry Room / Calico Cat

Laundry businesses proliferated in prairie towns in the early 20th century, and have been an essential part of the community for its whole history. Early issues of the Dickey County Leader included ads for laundry agents in town who would take your laundry, and ship it via train to Oakes or Aberdeen for washing, and return it promptly. Other ads, such as the one for the Ellendale Steam Laundry (1905) were common.

Earlier in Ellendale’s history, this establishment was known as “King Koin” laundry. Ernest & Jessye Guedesse owned the King Koin from 1963 to 1976, then Bob Youngman bought it. It subsequently was known as “Young’s Laundry.” In 2017, the business was taken over by Kristina Zinter, who brought it into the 21st century with new washers and dryers, internet service, Roku TV, and a coffee bar.

Behind the old structure that is now the Coleman Museum (Formerly Coleman Dentistry and the Farmers Bank), was located a small laundry service called Gesme’s Laundry. Irven Gesme operated that business from Slayton, MN on November 21, 1935. He died in 1974.

66 Main - The Calico Cat / Plumbing Shop / Bowling Alley

Since 1996 Marilyn Burow has operated the Calico Cat, a ceramics shop offering a wide variety of ready-to-paint ceramic greenware and related craft items. Previously the building was occupied by a plumbing store, and before that, it was a bowling alley. (Ellendale 125th, p. 76)