Masonic Building

On April 6, 1914, Ferguson and Peterson opened the Viking Theatre on this site. It was an impressive looking building of Renaissance architecture with white marble and handmade art glass around the entrance. The upper floors were for offices and apartments. In January 1920, the Masonic Lodge purchased the building for $20,000 and moved their lodge into the rooms on the second floor. They leased the theatre on the first floor to Frank Lang and C.C. Honey, who changed the name to the Orpheum Theatre. At the Orpheum's opening in October 1921, the film "Visions of 1970" was shown and was said to have been "exceedingly funny." They operated the Orpheum for two years. The building was then remodeled into new quarters for the Provision Store which was owned by the Minnesota and Ontario Paper Company (E.W. Backus's company) and managed by C.W. Speelman. In 1934, the Provision Store was closed and the Red Owl Store moved into the location. They operated there until March 1960 when they went out of business following a fire. Later, the building was occupied by Lloyd's Wildlife Museum and Lloyd Walhaug's barber shop. In February 1983, the Masonic Lodge took over the entire building and moved their clubrooms to the ground floor.