Bakeries, Bars, and Berg & Aaker – Hotel Warroad, Part II

Part I

In 1919, the Berg and Aakers took over the management of Hotel Warroad. The managers were a Hannah Aaker Berg and Anna "Annie" Aaker. The business began several years earlier. Martin Berg, originally from Roseau, opened his bakery in late 1912 on Main Street. He had previously run a bakery on the East Coast where Hannah first met him in 1910. The two married and moved to the northwest, settling in this region. The Berg's Bakery & City Cafe opened with a fresh selection of baked goods, fruits, candies, cigars, and tobacco, with Julius Huseth overseeing the operations and Annie Aaker (believed to be either a sister or a cousin of Hannah) as its experienced baker. Berg had run a successful operation in Roseau up to this point, and there was little doubt he could manage another bakery in Warroad.

The bakery was destroyed in the 1913 fire that took out most of Main Street. They temporarily opened a bakery managed by Annie Aaker managed somewhere around Wabasha Avenue, with the building said to be "opposite the G.N. depot," (Warroad Pioneer 12/11/1913). Martin Berg operated his business in Roseau and attempted to secure a permanent space on Main Street in the newly-built Brick Block. At the end of 1913, Berg bought a space within Wheatcroft building (You can still see the name "Wheatcroft" on the building today). He hoped to open a modern kitchen that offered all available conveniences for local residents and visitors. The new bakery opened in March 1914 with a ball attended by locals.

Between 1914 and 1915, the confectionary became the Berg & Aaker Bakery, announcing the rejoining of the two bakery businesses. A fire broke out in late 1915 that caused minimal damage but Berg & Aaker were displaced for many years. In the meantime, they managed The Warroad Bakery for Arno Bender on Wabasha Avenue. With World War I taking over most town attention, it is difficult to determine when exactly the bakery moved from Arno's on Wabasha to their building on Main Street. The next notable advertisement was found in 1917.

Again, news on the bakery goes quiet until an announcement of re-opening was published in the newspaper in March 1919. It stated: "The Warroad Bakery was re-opened for business, last Saturday, by Martin Berg. He is also preparing to establish an up-to-date candy factory, which will occupy the second story of the building. The bakery is one of the bets institutions in the village, and we hope everyone will boost for it and try to turn business that way...Mr. Berg is a first-class baker," (WP 04/03/1919). By the end of the month, Mrs. Hannah Berg and Miss Annie Aaker took over management of the Warroad Hotel that bordered the Warroad Bakery.

It is difficult to determine if the last name should be "Aakre" or "Aaker," as the building
sported both names at one point (see the last picture in our previous post).
The family is also distinguished from the family called "Akre."

Prior to World War I, sugar was one of the cheapest products to buy, but rationing and Prohibition caused a sugar shortage. Because sugar went into almost everything someone ate and drank, supply could not keep up with demand. Martin Berg stated that "Help and sugar are the two great troubles in the life of the hotel and bakery man at present, and one is about as difficult as the other," (WP 11/20/1919). 

Despite the trials of running a business in those days, the Berg & Aaker families ran a smooth operation. It was reported that the Warroad Hotel did more business in 1920 than at any previous time in its history (WP 01/13/1921). In February 1921, the decision was made to temporarily hand over the lease of the hotel and bakery to Frank Putz of Viriginia, MN while the two families took a break from management. Putz was eager to further update the building and did so by renovating the annex over the bakery to make nicer rooms for guests of the hotel and hiring on G. W. King from Minneapolis as the new chef of the Hotel Warroad Restaurant.

Martin Berg once more took over ownership of the hotel and restaurant at the end of 1922. His nephew Oscar Aaker arrived from Boston to manage the hotel. Business did well in Warroad and in September 1923, Berg sold his bakery in Roseau to spend more time operating the hotel (WP 09/27/1923). Julius Anderson, the local watchmaker and jeweler moved his business into the hotel as well. 

Over the next decade, very little changed for the hotel. The onset of the Great Depression at the end of the 1920s hit the community hard. The Berg and Aaker families were some of the lucky ones, whose business continued operating as close to normal as possible. Julius Anderson moved his shop out in 1933, leaving an open area that Martin Berg determined would be used for coffee and lunch rooms separate from the dining room and bakery.

Interior of Hotel Warroad Restaurant under the Berg/Aaker families

The Great Depression left the community in desperate for a sense of community and fun. Hotel Warroad sought to help out in that regard by providing weekly Sunday meals for low prices, adding a buffet, offering lunches in addition to dinners, Saturday night dances and holiday celebrations. In October 1933, the hotel hosted a Halloween costume party. 

On December 22, 1933, Martin Berg passed away from a gastrointestinal hemorrhage at the age of 52. The hotel continued to be a spot for decently priced meals, social gatherings, and entertainment throughout the next few years as the Great Depression continued ravaging the nation. It even hosted a reception for the rabbit hunt. Why were they hunting rabbits? Well, as if the Depression and Dust Bowl weren't enough, many creatures were ravaging the farmlands. Rabbits in particular became a terrible problem in Kansas, but they were also repopulating swiftly around Lake of the Woods. 

By 1935, the Bergs and Aaker's began seeking life away from the hotel. While Hannah Berg retained ownership of the hotel for a while, Martin Grove took over management of the hotel and bar. During the last months of 1934 Warroad Hotel boasted an adjoining barroom, restaurant, and club. Within a few months, the club was renamed the City Club Cafe by Art Gidding who would later sell to K. R. Macauley of Thief River.

Macauley determined that the barroom needed some maintenance and set to work redecorating in June 1935. He told the Pioneer "This place will be redecorated and remodeled and booths will be installed so that a downtown location will be available to family parties or to women who desire a light luncheon and perhaps a glass of beer." He further added that "I intend to install a register and am requesting that all operators of resorts, owners of boats, and others who in any manner cater to the sportsmen's business give me summarized data on their accommodations, equipment, and prices so that I may [be] able to direst tourist and sportsmen's trade to them." (WP 06/27/1935) Macauley was quick to set up shop and had renovations made within the next month of 1935. 

By September, Macauley was ready to branch out. He purchased the Warroad Hotel from the Bergs and officially took possession of the entire building. He was quick to renovate the three floors of the hotel to better serve modern customers. In November, a contest was held to rename the City Club Cafe. Members of the community were able to place suggestions for the new name with a winner being selected in December.

Main Street in the 1930s.

The new name? The Warroad Hotel lounge was renamed the Two-By-Two, suggested by an unnamed woman from Warroad. Other options that were considered were "The Rendezvous" or the "Teepee," but in the end, it was the Two-By-Two that succeeded (WP 12/12/1935). For the next several months, news about the hotel and Macauley was silent. Then, in July 1936, the hotel was suddenly sold to a well-known area man. 

George Arnold had operated the America Point Resort for many years at Penasse. According to the Pioneer the Warroad Hotel had been closed for several months by this point! Arnold's purchase was said to suggest that "a situation which has kept the hostelry virtually closed for several months will be satisfactorily adjusted within a week," (WP 07/30/1936). Arnold once more saw to updating the hotel and getting it back into shape in order to open the hotel, bar, and cafe to public usage once again by the end of 1936.

Initially, this post was meant to be part 2 of 3. However, after the Arnolds took over the hotel business, there is less and less mention of Hotel Warroad in the Warroad Pioneer. George Arnold built the third-story of the hotel in 1938, adding more rooms and bathrooms while renovating the outdated facilities. In 1940, Arnold became the first businessman to change to florescent lighting in his establishment. Meanwhile, he also began operating a ferry service between Baudette and Rainy River.

"In 1942, George Arnold purchased the hotel from Harry Miller for $15,000. George changed the bar area in the middle section of the main floor into a café with more booths and tables. He kept the 3.2 beer license and added more food items. At this point, it was reported George had about a dozen waitstaff, three cooks, two dish washers and two part-time bakers. Edna Westerlund had The Looking Glass Beauty Salon in the basement. In the early 1950s, George converted the furnace to a fuel oil furnace." (Information quoted from the LOW Historical Society)

In 1958, Hotel Warroad was sold to George's son Ed Arnold and his wife. George Arnold passed away a few years later in 1964, and a few months later, the hotel was sold to Mr.'s Oliver and Omer Rivard of Winnipeg. Word on the hotel once more goes silent until a decade later, when it was reported that the Warroad City Council had acquired the property from the Roseau County Board of Commissioners. It is unknown when or why the RCBC took control of the hotel, only that they deemed it of no value and all property taxes were forgiven. In August 1974, the building was officially demolished.

We will be taking a break from our hotel series for our next few posts, so stay tuned for our next series!

~ Erin Thompson, Museum Manager