Earl Street - Hudson Road: Then and Now Last Update: January 24, 2002

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This is the bakery building at 1039 Hudson Road.  In 1915 (left) it was known as the Mounds  Park Sanitary Bakery.  It later became Basta's Bakery and then Heroff's Bakery. In 2002 (right) it is being used as a warehouse for Leo's Chow Mein.

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The Mounds Theater at 1029 Hudson Road was built in 1922 and looked much as it did in this photo from 1950 (left).  After a remodeling later in the year, the theater received a more modern stucco exterior.  It was closed in 1967 and used as a warehouse until 2001.  Now in 2002 (right) it is being renovated and will reopen as a neighborhood performing arts center.  A history of the theater in pictures can be found here.  For details of the renovation project, visit the Portage for Youth web site.

The P. J. Donndelinger Saloon (left) stood at 1058 Hudson Road (then Hastings Ave.) on the southwest corner of Earl and Hudson in 1910. Today (right) the corner is occupied by a wooden freeway noise barrier and a rusty chainlink fence, courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

By 1948 the saloon had become a store but the streets were stilled paved with bricks. This photo is looking south on Earl towards Mounds Park. It was taken shortly before Highway 12 was built. The south side of Hudson Road and the north side of Pacific were destroyed in the process.

This is the same view in January 2002.  Leo's Chow Mein has replaced the Standard Service Station on the left.  On the right, Rexall Drugs was replaced by Kolb Pharmacy and then a number of small corner grocery stores, the latest of which closed in December 2001. The mailbox on the corner switched sides just a few years ago. Although it is difficult to see in these photos, the Mounds Park Pavilion still stands at the far end of Earl St.

Here is another view of the same corner in 1948 taken from the roof of 361 Earl St.  Note the streetcar on Earl St. and the streetcar tracks going from Hudson Road to Earl St.  The buses that replaced the streetcars followed this same route until 2001.

Here is a photo of Highway 12 in 1950, shortly after its construction. This view is looking east towards Earl St. and was probably taken from the pedestrian bridge that crossed the highway at Cypress.  The Mounds Theater can be seen on the left.

Highway 12 was replaced by I-94 in the early 1970s.  This is a photo of the Earl St. overpass being built in 1973. It was taken from Pacific and is looking north towards Hudson Road.

Here is the same view photographed  in January 2002.  As freeway overpasses go, this one is about as plain as they come.

Also see plans for a possible Earl St. - Hudson Road streetscape design

All black and white photos except for the Mounds Theater in 1950 are from the Minnesota Historical Society. Color photos by Greg Cosimini.