Big Vic
Big Vic is a big monument with a big story. In 1971, legislation authorizing the establishment of Voyageurs National Park was passed by the US Congress and signed by President Richard Nixon. State and local governments donated land holdings to the park, allowing its formal establishment in 1975. Private lands in the park were purchased as well, but this was and remains a contentious issue, since many landowners felt pressure to sell.One landowner, Vic David, took this encroachment and pressure to sell to heart and decided to do whatever he could to protest the new national park. After selling small sections of his land to his friends for small amounts of money, forcing the park to deal with more landowners, Davis decided to take it a step further to inconvenience the park. In keeping with the historical theme of voyageurs, Davis commissioned the creation of two large voyageurs named Big Vic and Big Louie. Davis transported the brother statues to islands on Rainy Lake via helicopter; Big Vic was placed on Cranberry Island. Because the park wanted to maintain the natural integrity of the land, they were forced to pay to have the statues removed after they finally acquired the land from Davis and his friends. Eventually, Big Vic was given to the city of Ranier where he stands as a symbol of standing up for causes you believe in. His brother, Big Louie, made his way to Barnum, MN.
Ranier School
The Ranier School was built in 1909 at a cost of $2,340.00. It was a two-story structure with three classrooms, a small library, and an auditorium. The original heating system consisted of two wood burning stoves, which was eventually replaced with a wood burning furnace. Originally, the toilet facilities were two outhouses but those were replaced with washrooms with running water and flushing toilets in the basement. Each classroom had two grades in them; after sixth grade the students had to transfer, most going to International Falls. The Ranier School served the community until it was closed in 1944.
McCarthy Fish Company
From the early 1920s to 1965, Dan McCarthy operated the McCarthy Fish Company. Commercial fisherman would sell their fish to the fish company where they were inspected, re-packed in ice, and shipped by railroad to customers across the country. The McCarthy Fish Company was located on the river at the west end of River Street.
Ranier Community Building
The Ranier Community building, built in the 1930s has undergone several renovations to keep it functional throughout the years and is also home to Ranier's City Office.
Ranier Townsite Office
This was the original location of the Townsite Office of Ranier. It later became a butcher shop.
Ranier Streetcar Storage
In 1910, the American Tramways Company built a streetcar line from International Falls to Ranier. They operated two electric cars and one gasoline powered vehicle. One way fare between the two cities was 5 cents. The line went out of business in 1913 because of mechanical issues which caused a decline in passengers. The building where the street cars were housed was on the lot that the Ranier Muni now occupies, but unfortunately no photographs of the storage house survive.
American State Bank
The American State Bank in Ranier was opened in 1913 and was one of the businesses that closed due to the Great Depression. Since then, many other businesses have occupied the space.
Bergstrom and Mallory Hardware
Bergstrom & Mallory Hardware waws one of first buildings to be erected in town and it was where the vote to incorporate Ranier as a city was held on March 17, 1908. Mallory also served as Ranier's first post master.
Pioneer Hotel
The Pioneer Hotel and Restraunt was a popular establishment in the early years of Ranier.
Duluth Street Dock
The Duluth Street dock was the city dock of Ranier. With the coming of the railroad in 1907, Ranier quickly became the Port of Rainy Lake. Visitors could come to Ranier by rail, rent a boat and continue to any destination on the lake. Freight could also be shipped to Ranier and taken by boat to anywhere on the lake.
Rainy Lake Chronicle
The Rainy Lake Chronicle occupied several buildings around Ranier during its run from 1974 to 1982, this just being its last. The Chronicle was the brainchild of Ted Hall, who at age 52 decided to leave his flashy career of working for two metropolitan New Jersey newspapers and a news magazine that took him all over the world and trade it in for running a local newspaper out of a "cobwebby old print shop" in Ranier. He purchased a 70-year-old linotype machine and got to work. He wanted to capture the essence of Ranier and its people through his publication. An excerpt from an article about Ted Hall and the Chronicle says it best:"The warmth of this snug village on the Canadian border issues from a cobwebby old print shop, in the description of its proprietor, where is born each week a nubby little newspaper, in the description of its Editor es Cetera, who happens to be the same person, Ted Hall. At risk of seeming melodramatic, the best way to describe the relationship between Ted Hall and the village of Ranier is a live affair. That nubby little offspring, the Rainy Lake Chronicle, is proof. 'I still marvel at getting the paper out,' Hall said. 'Every week I look at it and say, by God, another bloody miracle.' The miracle has occurred with flawless regularity for three years now, long enough for 1,400 readers in nearly every state, who have heard about the paper by word of mouth, to become vicarious neighbors of the 250 villagers of Ranier and to keep in touch with the moods and seasons of the northland. Ted Hall writes about his village on the shore of his beloved Rainy Lake with such grace and wit it is like getting a letter from a friend. 'I do treat the paper as sort of a conversation with its readers,' Hall said, 'not as a textbook.' Thus his readers learn about the triumphs and tragedies of the residents, and even of the village dogs, by name; about the municipally owned Village saloon, Ranier's main source of income; about the status of the Federal Mudpuddle in front of the post office; about Harry Erickson's fine store, never referred to without the adjective; about the habits of the evening grosbeaks and red polls who share dinner on the windowsill with a red squirrel."
Shelrud's Store
Shelrud was one of the signees of the petition to incorporate Ranier in 1908 and operated his store on Duluth Street. He served as postmaster for a time.
William's Night Club
In the early days, a number of hotels, rooming houses, and saloons made Ranier a pretty lively place. One of the largest and most flourishing of these establishments was the William's Night Club, owned by Bob Williams, located where the post office is now. Bob Williams, along with his wife Lil, also owned and operated Kettle Falls Hotel on Rainy Lake.During prohibition, Ranier, due to its proximity to Canadian whiskey became a port of entry for a good deal of illegal booze. This gave the town a somewhat unsavory reputation and, for a time, the nickname "Little Chicago." Bob Williams played a major role in the bootlegging business and used Kettle Falls and his Night Club as centers of operation for many illicit activities, he was even in partnership with Bugs Malone from time to time.
Train Depot and Lift Bridge
The railroad and rumors of the railroad brought many people to Rainer. In 1907, a bridge was built over the Ranier Rapids that connected Ranier with Fort Frances and the Canadian Railway system. This gave Ranier a Port of Entry status, and a building boom ensued. Besides the depot, many homes, several hotels, and several saloons went up in a hurry. Today, Ranier is the busiest port of entry in the United States.The Ranier Lift Bridge is a Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge, patented in 1890 and installed in 1907, and is one of the oldest cantilever bridges still in service.
Ranier Fish Hatchery
One of the more important industries in Ranier was commercial fishing. Numerous families and other individuals were involved in this enterprise. For many years, the commercial fishermen operated a fish hatchery to restock the lake to ensure a continuous supply of fish. Management of the hatchery was eventually given to the Minnesota Department of Conservation who operated it until about 1944. The hatchery was located in what is now Main Street Park.
John Erickson's Store
John Erickson, born December 28, 1884, in Clara City, MN, moved to this area in 1906, before Ranier was incorporated. For a year, John and his brother Harry Erickson worked in Fort Frances as carpenters and builders. In 1907, they established Erickson Bros. store in Ranier. One of the earliest businesses in town, it served as a general store and fur-buying business (they brothers were both taxidermists). The brothers' partnership dissolved in 1920 and John took over the store on his own and renamed it the Old Trading Post. He continued to run the store with his wife Gina into the 1940s when he eventually sold the store to his nephew George Erickson. After George Erickson, the store was bought by John Erickson's daughter, Arden Barnes. With the help of her mother, Gina, Arden ran Arden's Village Store for several years.
Harry Erickson's Store
Harry Erickson, born in 1878, came to the Borderlands with his brother John Erickson in 1906 before Ranier was incorporated in 1908. He worked in Fort Frances as a carpenter and builder and fur dealer until 1907 when he went into business with his brother and opened the Erickson Bros. store. The brothers' relationship soured and in 1920 they went their separate ways. Harry opened his own general store right across Spruce Street from his brother's. He and his wife Grace operated the store for many years until Harry decided to focus full time on building, renting, and operating boats. They sold the building to Cliff Moe in the mid-1930s. During this time, the Ranier post office was in the back of the store, Grace Erickson was postmaster. Jr. After returning from military service in 1946, Harry Erickson Jr. opened and operated Harry's Fine Store out of the same building his father had built decades earlier. The building remained a grocery store for many years under different owners, including Phil Paulbeck, before being converted into Woody's Pub. In 2016, brothers Matt and Paul Kavan opened Loony's Brew, a brewery and pub.
Erickson's Bait and Boat Shop
After John Erickson sold his general store to his nephew George, he devoted all his time to boats. He opened a small bait shop and boat house where he rented and repaired boats. The building that now houses Tara's Wharf is a replica of John Erickson's original bait shop.
Gene Riche Monahan's House
Gene Richie Monahan, born and raised in Duluth, was not long out of high school before she was winning national recognition for her painting. She earned her Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Art at the University of Minnesota. Her marriage to George Monahan (son of Doctors Robert and Elizabeth Monahan, who founded the Northern Minnesota Hospital in 1909 in International Falls) in 1934 brought her to Rainy Lake for the first time, and its spell never left her. She continued her painting and teaching while raising her family in Minnesota, Alaska, and Colorado. In 1953, when the family moved to New York City Gene continued to study and paint. For 3 years she painted 5 days a week at the National Academy School of Fine Arts under Robert Philipp and Louis Bouche, and during her ten years living in NYC and having a studio in Greenwich Village, Gene's recognition as a portrait painter became widespread. National and international group shows brought her awards and her one-man shows in NYC and elsewhere around the country brought sales and commissions. Today her paintings hang in public and private collections from Boston to Pales Verde, CA, and around the world from Munich, Germany to Auckland, New Zealand. Upon her husband's retirement in 1960, Gene returned with him to Ranier where she became the artist for the beloved local publication the Rainy Lake Chronicle.
Ranier Beach
Ranier beach was used as a docking point for boats and planes. Harry Erickson often kept his boats here. When the dock wasn't busy with lake traffic, young kids could play in the shallow water.
