Slab Alley, South Stillwater
This was the location of the Crabtree Service Station in Slab Alley. The year was 1932. The view is toward the north. In the distance you can see the Commander Grain Elevator. It is the only building left in this photo.
Slab Alley
by Bill Fredell
Slab Alley is named after large slabs of lumber that were trimmed from the outside diameter of the trees. These pieces were used in the construction of the homes in the photos. These structures on Slab Alley were the homes of mostly employees of the lumber factories in Stillwater.
Slab alley was a small part of what is now south Main Street. Slab alley was actually only two blocks long. In this story, more territory along south Main Street will be included beyond slab alley. It extends from Curtis Caves, south to The Oasis Café.
This photo was taken at a location about 1/4 mile south of the Crabtree Kendall Service Station. The year was 1932. The view is toward the north. All of these buildings were razed and these photos are all that remain of this busy area.
This is a view to the south of Slab Alley. The year was 1932. There was a lot of activity in Slab Alley at various times ranging from the Hersey Bean Lumber Mill operation to the railroad movement. In earlier years, there also Was a brewery just south of this location.
This was the home that Mr. Aiple built next to the Northwestern Brewery Building at this location. The year was 1868.
This was the location of the Apple Northwestern Brewery. The date of the photo is 1890. There were several breweries in Stillwater at this time. You are able to see the Apple House on the far right. There were stone quarries behind this location.
To view a later photo of this location, just Click or Tap on the photo above.
Susannah Tepass (1824-1889)
Story Written and Researched by Matthew Reicher, Minnesota
A series of tragedies littered the timeline of Stillwater's Northwestern Brewery during its more than fifty-year existence. Throughout much of that history, the business remained viable under the watchful eye of brewster Susannah Tepass.
Born Susannah Burkhard on August 10, 1824, in Germany, Tepass emigrated to the United States with her parents in 1847 at the age of twenty-two. The family settled amongst fellow countrymen in Freeport, Illinois. It was here that she wed Norbert Kimmick in 1849 before moving north with her husband to Stillwater, Minnesota. Shortly after the couple became settled, Mr. Kimmick set up a distillery in the kitchen of their home on the corner of Third and Chestnut streets. He manufactured about five gallons of whiskey a week in that small space.
