Brickyard turned 30

This week Don Johnson wrote in with a reminder of a very important Wrenshall anniversary. Here is the story: "It turns out that the 12th of June is the 30-year anniversary of the

Brickyard Restaurant. So I thought I would give you some history of how it came into being."

Johnson says there were three men who were part of the Wrenshall Development Corporation. They were Hugh Line, head janitor at the school who served several terms as mayor of Wrenshall; Ken Holmes, a farmer and then later a bus driver for the school; and Cliff Goad, a part-time truck driver and retiree from Potlatch Corp. in Cloquet who was also a mayor and the fire chief.

"It was their dream that Wrenshall should have a restaurant as a place to socialize and meet for other activities," Johnson wrote.

They started out by selling stock with the only guarantee that you got your money back if the place was sold, Johnson said. They raised the funds and got started. They first hired an architect to develop the plans. Then they got started working without pay and having volunteers help when they could.

"I volunteered myself at first, but when I went back to work I could only help on the weekends," Johnson said. "You will notice in the entryway a list of all the volunteer workers, which makes it a true community effort."

After it was completed, Carolyn and Byron Johnson managed to get a small business loan and purchased the building.

Johnson said community history can be found inside. The lights over the counter are from the school. The original booths, which have since been replaced, came from the Hardee's on Grand Avenue in Duluth when it was being remodeled. The wooden seats at the counter were created at the wood shop at the school. The counter and partitions in the restrooms were built by Hugh with help from Ken Cliff.

"I believe that it is kind of unique that Carolyn was pregnant with her first child (at the time) and now she is a grandmother, and they still are keeping the business alive," Johnson said.

Share Wrenshall-related news with Annie Dugan at [email protected] or 218-310-4703.