Rooms for rent: Boarding houses filled a need in Bemidji's first 25 years
The village of less than 500 people in 1898 became a boom town by 1900 with some 10,000 lumberjacks within a 10-mile radius of the town. Bemidji’s resident population more than doubled from 1900 to 1910. The housing supply simply could not keep up with demand.
Source: bemidjipioneer.com