In August, downtown Brainerd lost the storefront that was built mainly for visitors. In the same stretch it gained a bookstore on Front Street and a furniture restoration shop on South Eighth Street, and it will soon have a home decor store inside the old First National Bank building. The visitor desk moved out to Golf Course Drive in Baxter. The rooms it left behind are being filled by owners who signed on to buildings that are older than almost anything else in the city.
This fall, downtown has fewer things aimed at people passing through and more things run by people who chose a particular old building and plan to stay in it.
A 1917 Bank Lobby Reopens as a Shop on Oct. 17
The most visible change comes next Saturday. As the Brainerd Dispatch reported in August, The Iron Horse announced on Facebook that it will open Oct. 17 in the historic First National Bank building on South Sixth Street, selling home decor, furniture and gifts. Design Consign had the space from 2012 until it closed after a retirement sale this summer.
The name refers to the nickname for early train locomotives, a nod to the Northern Pacific Railroad's part in Brainerd's founding. The store explained the rest in its Facebook post, which the Dispatch quoted:
"But behind every Iron Horse was an actual one. A living breathing animal, hauling the equipment and breaking the ground that made it all possible which is why we chose to honor both with our logo and name."
Not many downtown buildings carry as much history. The Crow Wing County Historical Society dates the bank to 1882 and lists its original address as 602 Front Street. Its current address is 201 South Sixth Street. In 1916 the bank's officers bought the building and remodeled it. Contractor Alex Nelson of Perham, who also built the Ransford Hotel, took down the old walls and put up a front of gray semi-glazed brick with terra-cotta trim. The entrance was terra cotta with a clock above it, and the clocks came from the Seth Thomas Clock Company in Connecticut. About 5,000 people came to the grand opening on Feb. 24, 1917. The date of the first building is not settled. A 2021 Dispatch history of Brainerd banks gives 1876, while the historical society's detailed account says 1882.
The historical society also notes that the large windows and the Front Street entrance were later closed up. Inside, where the windows used to be, large reproduced photographs hang as if they were still windows. One shows the Ransford Hotel around 1905. Another shows the water tower being built in 1919. Whoever walks into The Iron Horse later this month will be shopping under pictures of downtown's own past.
Two Blocks Over, a Garage Operation Gets a Storefront
Dal Furniture and Restoration opened Oct. 1 on South Eighth Street. According to the Dispatch's Oct. 2 business roundup, the business said on Facebook that it had worked out of a garage for two years before opening the storefront. The building used to house Fusion Jewelry Studio, and it was remodeled and painted before the doors opened.
The store's own description lists refurbished and restored furniture, antiques, vintage pieces, home decor and rugs, "and plenty of things you might not expect to find." Dispatch photographer Renee Richardson caught the final touches on the sign going up Sept. 30, the day before opening.
Taken together with The Iron Horse, this gives downtown two new furniture and decor shops within a few blocks of each other, both opening in October. Both took over spaces from earlier businesses, Dal in the old Fusion Jewelry Studio and The Iron Horse in Design Consign's former bank lobby. Neither needed a new building.
On Front Street, a Bookstore Organized Around Tuesdays
Erica Bordwell opened Books and Botanicals at 816 Front St. on Aug. 8. The Dispatch's feature on the store describes shelves of beach reads, romance, romantasy, mysteries, suspense and thrillers, along with a children's section whose wall art was inspired by "Where the Wild Things Are." Bordwell stocked it with books from her own childhood and books her fourth graders love. She also told the paper she will be adding more Minnesota authors.
Most of the store's calendar falls on Tuesdays. The goal is to put out new releases that day, and the plan as reported in August gives each Tuesday of the month its own genre:
- First Tuesday: thrillers
- Second Tuesday: literary fiction
- Third Tuesday: romantasy
- Fourth Tuesday: romance
There is also a puzzle of the month and a monthly theme. A room for book clubs and poetry slams was being set up, free to use during business hours and available for a nominal fee after hours. Customers can request titles in the store or on its website, which lists the full inventory and sends a notification when an order arrives. Besides books, the store sells plants, book lights, bookmarks, games and candles.
Ahead of the Sept. 26 grand-opening party, Bordwell asked the businesses nearby to take part. "So all the people around here," she told the Dispatch, "I'm asking them to be part of it, bringing us together in yet another way." Next summer she plans to take a book trailer out around the area and to fill the front windows with puppies and kittens through a pet adoption partnership with the Babinski Foundation.
The Storefront That Left, and Where Its Shelves Went
The Visit Brainerd Gift Store on South Seventh Street closed Aug. 22 after what its farewell sign called "6.75 wonderful years in Downtown Brainerd." The Visit Brainerd Baxter marketing office and visitor information services moved to 14410 Golf Course Drive in Baxter, in the building with Panache Salon and Day Spa.
The merchandise did not leave downtown with the office. According to the Dispatch's August roundup, several of the store's Minnesota-themed lines were going to The Old Open Window, The 218 Urban Nest and Little Threads Kidswear Boutique downtown, and to Christmas Point in Baxter. Brainerd History Group walks are now by appointment only. Save the Water Tower merchandise, which used to be featured in the gift store, will be sold at community events.
So the Brainerd souvenir shelf now sits inside independent shops. Little Threads, at 706 Laurel St., sells pre-loved children's clothing, toys, equipment and maternity items. A February 2026 Dispatch profile said it opened in 2025, also carries a small selection of new and local products, and that owner Madeline Johnson was planning a free Foster Closet with a local nonprofit and the Crow Wing County Foster Care community.
The group behind downtown events now calls itself Brainerd Main Street. Its site describes local business owners working with other organizations and residents to revitalize, preserve and promote downtown, and says it is forming a steering committee.
Where to Be Downtown Before Halloween
The next two weeks bring the last outdoor market of the season, The Iron Horse's opening, and the biggest downtown event of the fall:
- Oct. 15–17, 7–9 p.m.: Northland Arboretum's Haunted Trail at 14250 Conservation Drive. It offers three scare levels and raises money for the Arboretum.
- Friday, Oct. 16, 9 a.m.–2 p.m.: The final Main Street Market of the season in the City Hall parking lot. The Destination Downtown Brainerd Coalition's 2026 permit ran from May 15 through this date.
- Saturday, Oct. 17: The Iron Horse's announced opening day at 201 S. Sixth St.
- Saturday, Oct. 24, 11 a.m.–3 p.m.: Downtown Brainerd Spooktacular, according to the Brainerd Lakes Chamber listing. Trick-or-treating runs 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., with activities and vendors on Laurel Street between Seventh and Eighth streets.
The Spooktacular block on Laurel runs right past Little Threads. From there, Books and Botanicals on Front Street, Dal on Eighth and the old bank on Sixth are each a short walk away.
The Tower in the Bank's Painted Window
One of the photographs inside the First National Bank shows the water tower going up in 1919. The tower itself is still being repaired. The Dispatch reported Sept. 11 that the preservation committee received a second $500,000 Congressionally Directed Spending grant from the National Park Service, on top of the first one awarded in 2024. Neither grant requires matching funds.
Over the last few years the 107-year-old structure has received a new roof, restored windows, and updated electrical and lighting. Stucco is the final phase. The original estimate for repairing the stucco, which began falling in 2018, was $3 million. Committee chair Paul Skogan is working with architects on a scaled-down $1 million version that would still allow add-ons if more money comes in, aiming for a 2028 construction date. In 2018 the city set aside $300,000 to demolish the tower if repair money could not be raised. Part of that money went toward the new roof instead.
The tower in the photograph on The Iron Horse's wall is on track for stucco work as early as 2028.
At Larson Group, we track details like who is moving into which historic building because a building's past is part of its value. If you own an older property in downtown Brainerd and wonder how its history might matter when you sell, we're glad to talk it through.
