Tales of the Road Curse??

My heart goes out to Mike and Cathy Anderson of Hugo, Minnesota. They are the owners of what was Carpenter's Steakhouse: a very well known restaurant on Highway 61 in Hugo. Carpenter's merited a spot in the book "Tales of the Road-Highway 61." 

This is what remains of the old place.  It caught fire Sunday, January 3, 2010. What an UNhappy way to start the new year! Fire investigators are looking into what caused it, but the fact is another piece of Highway 61 history is gone for good, much like the Whispering Pines Motel in Illgen City, Mn, and the old Two Harbors High School. The motel burned last fall (see the blog entry on that) and the high school fell to the wrecking ball. I'm so glad we included all three sites in the book so the history behind each is available for future generations. 

Carpenter's was nearly 120 years old. It was a general store made into a bar and restaurant. And it had been a focal point of Hugo for generations.  Not much of the original, old-time Hugo remains. What a shame. 

Mike Anderson was kind enough to let me use an old photo of the bar which didn't make it into the book, but I still have it and a menu. Carpenter's was a place that still had wood floors and a tin ceiling. Mike and his mom Cathy had permission from the city to tear the old place down in due time and build a new restaurant nearby, but not after taking some of the fixtures from the old place into the new. That won't happen now. 

I haven't talked to the Anderson's. They are said to be in shock. I feel for them and their employees and really... the town of Hugo. Everyone has lost something in the fire.