4029 VERNON AVENUE

The C & C Building was built by Cusack and Carlson, Inc. Realtors in 1953. The building boasted 70,000 square feet of office space. It was located at 4029 Vernon Avenue, at the southeast corner of the intersection of Excelsior Blvd. and Highway 100.

The undated picture below shows a woman in front of a huge sign announcing St. Louis Park's newest office building.  She is standing just north of 4059 Vernon, and may have been Mrs. Percy Ross.  Indeed, the building was to be called the Ross & Ross Building:  "7500 sq. ft. of air conditioned rental space."  Benjamin Gingold was the architect, and the realtor was the A.D. Strong Co.  The sketch had the same general contour of the C&C building, but had some significant differences.



The C&C building replaced several other buildings that had been on the property; some say up to six or seven. These lots and homes were right on Highway 100. Six additional homes and a church further south survived the expansion of the Highway in the mid 1960’s. The buildings/lots replaced were:

· 4021 Vernon was owned by Ada Burch in 1926. We do not know if there was ever a house here. This is often used as an address for the C&C building.

· 4025 Vernon was owned by Ellen Arendt in 1926. We do not know if there was ever a house here. This is no longer an address.

· 4033 Vernon may have been a house, owned from Nels Sondvigen in 1926. This is no longer an address.

· 4037 Vernon was owned by Elise L. Faust in 1926 and until at least 1948. We do not know if there was ever a house here. This land is now a parking lot.

· 4041 Vernon was a house of unknown origin. Hildur E. Nelson owned the land in 1926, and L.M. and Leona Russell had the water connected in 1940. In 1958 it was rezoned from residential to limited commercial. By 1961 it belonged to Nickels and Smith and was used as the Richard Johnson beauty shop. In 1968, Nickles and Smith had the house moved to Osseo, and the land is now used for a parking lot.

The building that replaced all of these addresses was known by several of these addresses, although its official address is 4029. C&C occupied the building until 1959.

In June 1959 the building became the home of Nickles and Smith Real Estate "since 1886." In 1927, the Village was insured by Blackburn-Cross-Nickles and Smith. In 1951-57, the company was at 515 - 2nd Ave. So., Minneapolis. It has since been sold and resold "out of its history." Nickles and Smith occupied the building until about 1983.

A sampling of the many other occupants of the office building include:

Glen Haven Pleasant View Gardens (1956-58)
George C. Maurer Construction (1959)
Phillip Morris (1960-65)
Jay's Drive-In (1965)
Dermot F. Rowland Real Estate (1988-)
Vern-Ex Corp. (1956)
Lake Plaza Real Estate (1960)
William B. Lee Construction (1960)
Steel Engineering Co. (1960)
E.D. & Associates Art and Design (1964)
Folstad (1967)
Diamond Builders (1956)
Continental Agency Inc. (1956)
Nucleonic Controls (makers of a pole rot detecting device) (1961)
Arco Contract Purchasers Finance Co. (1956)
National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (1956)
Reed & King, Inc. Manufacturing Agents (1956)
Dupont Acceptance Finance Co. (1956)
 Jacobson AHCO Rental Agent (1956)
Sutherland Paper Co. (1956-60)
News Vend Inc. (1960)
Inter American (import-export) (1960)
Russ Thompson & Asso. Heating Equipment (1957-60)
Robert G. Corwine, Landscape Architect (1960)
A.H. Jacobson Rental Agent (1960)
Dupont Acceptance – Real Estate Investor (1960)
W.D. Anderson – lighting fixture manufacturer (1960)

Home    St. Louis Park History    History Index    About the Society    Research Resources
Brookside Timeline    Something In The Water    The Re-Echo    Contact Us

This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.