March 10, 1982 – The Jukola Boardinghouse in Virginia, Minn., was put on the National Register of Historic Places on this date. A frame residential building, it was constructed in 1912 to house unmarried miners.1
“The building had huge kitchens, a big dining room, sitting rooms, a ladies' parlor, and sleeping quarters for a hundred men. During its busiest period, Jukola used to serve meals to 450 persons daily in its [dining room] and was known for its excellent food. Drinking and [card playing] were strictly forbidden on the premises. During 1915-17, Jukola also operated its own grocery store in basement quarters in the building, with the storekeeper being Leo Saari, widely known in the cooperative movement in Virginia.
The residents of the hall were mostly workers in the mines or the sawmills. Most of them also belonged to the Workingmen's Association and were active participants in the Opera activities, and they were also the ones who were most ready to furnish loans to the Association when the Opera was being built. When they were not at the Opera, the young men used to crowd into the big [living room] of Jukola and talk and discuss and argue, and there was always action and bustle from early morning until late at night.”2
11http://nrhp.mnhs.org/NRDetails.cfm?NPSNum=82004710
2http://www.historymuseumeot.com/mfahs/htm/part7_0053.htm
Jukola Boardinghouse, Virginia, Minn
http://www.historymuseumeot.com/mfahs/htm/part7_0053.htm
Jukola Boardinghouse today
Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released
into the public domain March 10, 2013,
as long as acknowledgement included.
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