Lowry Architectural Wondering

Here's an offering to my Lowry homies.

Architecturally, my little home town cannot complete with Athens or Rome, but we'd take them down when it comes to friendliness.  Usually, a small town has some ostentatious home or building that stands as a monument of success for some town swell, often the banker.  Lowry has many nice homes but none in the "mansion" category, perhaps a testimony to its egalitarianism.  Nevertheless, it does have some interesting structures.  

My grandparents home is an example of immigrant influence. 

Ole & Esther Hoplin home.  This traditional Swedish gambrel roof home was built in 1927-28, just in time for the depression. The mortgage was held by a pair of bachelor farmers and was not foreclosed due to their kindness. No payments during the 30's and not fully paid off until after WWII. The home had some forward looking features, including electricity, indoor plumbing and radio antenna wires for each room - never used however.  Another building to the east in the same design held the 1923 Overland and hay for the cow. Oh - and the basement was a mortuary and housed bodies in the winter waiting for the spring thaw. 

Lutheran Free Church

This home (204 Drury Ave) once was a Lutheran Free Church,  a separate Lutheran denomination from 1897 to 1970 when it merged with the American Lutheran Church (ALC).  Augsburg Seminary in Minneapolis was founded by the Free Church and the Wisconsin Norwegian Lutherans.  (I was unable to determine when this congregation was active in Lowry).  I remember it as the Clarence Hanson home.

Lowry Clinic once hosted 3 M.D.'s. Of course, now with centralized medicine, those days are long gone.  Dr. Lewellyn L. Gibbon was so beloved by my grandmother that that a Hoplin chid got that Welsh name in between his given name and surname. Dr. Bert was a legend. Dr. Nelson is a relative. Dr. Wright was the first black to live in Lowry - and he managed the Lowry baseball team. And Dr. Lee traveled from Glenwood in his TBird a couple days a week in the late 50's to deliver his special kind of care.  The clinic building is now a single family home.

• LL Gibbon M.D.
• BA McIver M.D.
• Maynard Nelson M.D.
• Bruce Jarvis M.D.
• Matt Plasha M.D.
• Beaumont Hagebak, DDS
• Lawrence Wright, DDS
• Gordon Lee MD

The Rink House.  This was built as a WPA project in the 1930's using local rock for the chimney and fireplace.  It served skaters for 50 years. In my day, Ed Flynn was the keeper of the fire and handed out the big snowplow skate behind shovels for us to clean the rink after snowfalls.

William Leslie home.  William Leslie was co-owner of the wildly successful Lowry Roller Mill during the 1920's & 30's,  producing "Lowry's Best" flour.  Glenwood Bakery used 60 bags per day. Sadly, in February 1937 a flour dust explosion sparked a fire and the mill burned to the ground.  The mill was not rebuilt.  The home was later owned by Donnie Dingwall, but I remember it as the Iver Femrite family home.

Iver Engebretson home.  Iver was the president of Lowry State Bank, holding that position from 1926 into the 1950's.  He was noted for serving in the Spanish-American war.

Lowry School.  The red brick 2 story school building housed grades 1-8 and four teachers. Lots of memories.  It's no longer there.

The Churches.  The Lutherans, the Covenanters, Plymouth Brethren and the Catholics - but their church was out in the country so perhaps is ineligible. 

George McIver Home.  The McIver's were among the most prominent Lowry families.  Leaders of the Plymouth Brethren's. Founders of McIver's Store, the local grocery and mercantile. Dr. Bert McIver was a renowned physician.  Truly an exemplary family.  In my day, the George McIver home was that of Howard & Mary Lysen.

The Jaegers were Latvian Displaced Persons, living in Lowry in the late 40's, sponsored by area Lutheran churches.  Theirs was a fascinating story if you've got time to read it. Angie was a MD and Vera a pharmacist. Their brother Julius was a renowned artist. The cared for a young boy, Alberts Vigants on their escape from the Russians at the end of WWII.  They lived in the upstairs apartment on Aurora Ave.

Ben Rice Shoe Repair.  These were the days when we fixed things rather than sending them to the landfill.

Lowry Creamery.  I remember walking to the creamery to get a milk bottle filled with sweet cream.  Ray Hayenga was the creamery man and benefactor of the Lowry Leghorn BB team, so he is golden in my memory.  He also organized a memorable trip to the Boundary Waters for Lowry boys which included almost burning up my father's pickup - a story for another day.

Pure Oil station.  This classic gas station was located on a side street unseen from Highway 55.  I remember it as operated by Bob Bennet and in it's modernized look. It's now gone and in it's place is Lowry Mfg.

Lowry Flats. Lowry's version of New York's The Dakota.  Cheaper rent.  Several businesses along main street had apartments in thire upper level. McIver's Store, Dahl House, Dave Chan's Tavern, Telephone Office ..

The Depot.  Up and through the 60's, the railroad was the life blood of small towns, delivering mail, freight and providing passenger service.  Two trains a day stopped in Lowry.  Jim Robieson served as the station master 

The Town Hall. The hub off community activity.  Fire House, Polling Station, Council Meetings, Water Works, Smelt fries, basketball court, Memorial Day speeches, School Christmas programs, Lowry Citizen of the Year honoring ceremonies, ... those were the days.

Copyright ©  2021  Dave Hoplin