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from 1917. This space is now called Jackson Square and is a <br />parking lot. <br /> <br />The park was framed by a block of masonry buildings on <br />Jackson Street, most erected around 1898 and then rebuilt after <br />another fire in 1903. Another fire in 1914 destroyed four stores <br />on Main Street including the building housing the post office. <br />The earliest remaining downtown building appears to be the <br />J.H. Romdenne Drugstore at the corner of Jackson and Main <br />(now the Sunshine Depot). However, the exterior of the two- <br />story brick structure has been completely modernized. <br /> <br />Between ca. 1898 and 1920, two blocks of Main Street parallel <br />to the river developed with a modest mix of one and two-story <br />brick buildings housing a variety of businesses. After about <br />1914, Main Street also attracted a new generation of <br />automotive dealers and service garages, gradually replacing <br />liveries and blacksmiths. The Elk Theatre, Sherburne County <br />Farm Bureau, and furniture and general stores were among <br />early tenants on Main Street. A variety of automotive buildings <br />and a new theater (1947) were among additions between ca. <br />1920 and 1950. <br /> <br />Like periodic fires, highway construction remade downtown <br />Elk River. The construction of the Jefferson Highway by the <br />early 1920s, and the Highway 10 bypass in the 1940s <br />demolished a number of downtown landmarks. The present <br />alignment of Highway 10 also encroached on the northern end <br />of Jackson Street. <br /> <br />The Houlton Block and Jackson <br />Street, ca. 1910. Photo: MHS. <br /> <br />Elk River Historic Contexts and Phase II Downtown Commercial Area Study <br /> 29 <br /> <br /> <br />