A history of the building located at 804 Main Street, by Mike Drooger –

The building on Edgerton’s Main Street that is now home to the Edgerton Enterprise, On the Farm, Main Street Printers, and Edgerton Electric, got its humble beginning in 1947 when Bill Menning and Harry Verdoes bought an empty lot from Dick Jolink. Menning and Verdoes constructed a 26’ x 130’ building that was Edgerton’s bowling alley for seven years. The building had a brick front with walls of cement blocks.

Alonzo D. Kingsbury had purchased the land in 1879 that would later be officially known as lot five (5), in block five (5), original plat in the Village of Edgerton, Minnesota. The lot is technically 26’ 9” on one end and twenty-six feet nine and one half inches on the other.

The lot changed hands many times after Kingsbury had purchased it in 1879. People such as Horace Thompson, Elias Drake, William Sheridan, Henry Hoye, and George Dodd owned it. And that was all before 1889 when it was sold to W. S. Pratt. The property changed hands 14 more times until Dick Jolink purchased it in 1944. Jolink owned the bakery directly to the south.

Three years later he sold the lot to Verdoes and Menning and they opened a four-lane bowling alley called Edgerton Recreation. In 1948, Verdoes became the sole owner and was assisted by Charlie Tinklenberg. League bowling began in October of 1947. There were two men’s leagues with eight teams per league and one women’s league.

The Edgerton Enterprise reported the progress of Edgerton’s latest building in its issues of 1947: “Last Monday morning the construction of a bowling alley was begun by Harry Verdoes and William Menning. The lot north of the bakery had been purchased from Dick Jolink and a building will be erected. Pronk Bros. excavated a basement 30’ x 25’ in the front where there will be lockers for bowlers to store bowling balls and shoes. Plans call for an up-to-date four-alley building with a lunch counter in the southwest corner. The interior will be finished with soft walls and ceiling to eliminate noise. All the equipment has been purchased and will be installed as soon as the building has been completed. This should be about September 1. Much interest has been shown by Edgerton people as they have always been represented on league teams in Pipestone and with the help of the surrounding territory, it should be a huge success.”

The new bowling alley was expected to be open by September 1, but anxious bowlers had to wait a month. The Enterprise announced the opening day: “Edgerton’s new four-lane bowling alley and recreation room opened its doors to the public for the first time on Wednesday evening, October 1^st, and league bowling will begin next Monday evening at 7:30 p.m. Several teams have been organized to bowl on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings each week and the balance of the week will be open to all who care to participate. Harry Verdoes and William Menning, proprietors of the new place, have gone to considerable expense to provide our town with this new, clean, healthful entertainment and certainly deserve the patronage and consideration of young and old alike. Edgerton has been lacking amusement facilities for some time and this new enterprise is certainly a step in the right direction and worthy of your support.”

Fred Huisken operated a hardware store in Lake Wilson for eight years. In 1954, he purchased the bowling alley building and opened Huisken’s Hardware.

From the February 25, 1954 edition of the Edgerton Enterprise: “A business transaction was completed Saturday whereby Fred Huisken, of Lake Wilson, purchased the building which now houses the bowling alleys from Harry Verdoes. The possession of the building will take place in June 1. Although Harry has no definite plans for the future, it is expected he will move his alleys to another town, while Mr. Huisken plans to move his hardware business to Edgerton from Lake Wilson.”

NEW HARDWARE STORE TO OPEN HERE SATURDAY

Fred Huisken, a former Edgertonite who now has returned to the community, is the proprietor of a new hardware store, which opened in Edgerton this week. Mr. Huisken, who has been in the hardware business for several years in Lake Wilson, closed the store there a few months ago to open at Edgerton. He purchased the bowling alley building and has spent the past few months remodeling it into a fine new hardware store, arranged for the convenience of the customer.

Huisken’s Hardware, as the place will be known, is a member of the Hardware Hank association, which is a group of independent hardware merchants grouped together for the purpose of buying in quantity and thereby gaining the benefit of buying at a lower price.

The grand opening of the new store is being held on Saturday of this week. The prices on many items in the store have been greatly reduced for this event and, in addition, customers will have an opportunity to win prizes being offered, not to mention free coffee and doughnuts.

Fred and Min Huisken sold the hardware business to Gord and Judy Prins in 1981. Gord was accustomed to working with the public having worked previously at the State Bank of Chandler, Top Livestock, and the State Bank of Edgerton.

Because the Hardware Hank store chain is a cooperatively owned retail business, new owners of stores had to be approved by a vote of the members of the cooperative. The transaction between the Huiskens and the Prinses received the formal go-ahead and the sale was complete. Fred and Min helped Gord and Judy learn the hardware business before officially retiring putting an end to 35 years in the hardware business.

Gord was a hardware store owner for nearly as long as the Huiskens. He sold his business to Tinklenberg Lumber in 2014, which ended his tenure at 33 years. But Gord wasn’t finished. He worked for Tinklenberg Lumber two days a week for five years giving Gord 38 total years helping Edgertonites and people from the surrounding area with his or her hardware needs.

While the hardware inventory was sold to Tinklenberg Lumber and moved into a brand new location, Gord and Judy sold the building to Michael and Jill Fennema. After some interior remodeling, the building became home to the four businesses in which the Fennemas have a financial interest. The visible exterior walls received a facelift in June and July of 2021.