When John “Jack” E. Quistgard, a young pharmacist from Warren, Minn., wanted to buy Bemidji’s Glass Block Drugstore in 1950, none of the local banks would give him a loan.
Just like so many of the items you can find inside, the building that houses the First City Antique Mall on the southeast corner of Second Street and Minnesota Avenue has an intriguing history of its own.
The detailed brick walls of the Mayflower Building have welcomed people to downtown Bemidji for well over a century, first as a wholesale grocery house and now as a hub for local entrepreneurs and as a building emblematic of looking toward the future of Bemidji.
From 1907 to 1909, the brick building at 423 Beltrami Ave. housed Turkish baths. Today, it houses an elegantly peaceful business called the Siam Wellness and Massage Spa.