C. L. Merryman's Photographic Studio, 11th Street, Kerkhoven, Minnesota, (Razed)
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C. L. Merryman's Photographic Studio | |
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| Address: | 11th Street |
| City/locality- State/province |
Kerkhoven, Minnesota |
| County- State/province: |
Swift County, Minnesota |
| State/province: | Minnesota |
| Country: | United States |
| Historic Function: | Photo Studio and Gallery |
Charles Lincoln Merryman is originally from Bangor, Maine. He was born in 1865, and he evidently took to photography at an early age: He was running his own photo shop in Bangor when he was still a teenager. In 1884 Merryman went to Boston where he spent the next eight years working for the Blair Camera Company. In 1892 he moved to Kerkhoven, and for several months he operated a photo studio there out of a tent. In 1893 Merryman purchased the building pictured here on 11th street, and he remodeled it to accommodate a photo studio by extending the building and adding skylights to it. Merryman ran this photography business for nearly fifty years, and he eventually had two satellite studios in Sunberg and Spicer Minnesota.
The following excerpt is from a 1941 article in the Willmar Daily Tribune upon the razing of Merryman’s studio:
“One of Kerkhoven’s old landmarks has made its exit bow to progress and now remains but a memory. It is the small frame building owned and used by C. L. Merryman as a photograph gallery for the past 47 years.
The lot was purchased in October 1890, from St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railroad Company by C.L. Westerdahl, father of A. Westerdahl of the Nyquist-Westerdahl Hardware Company. The building, which was originally constructed in Murdock in 1878, was moved to Kerkhoven the same year.
In January, 1893, A. Westerdahl took over the property, selling it to Mr. Merryman. Adding 16 feet to the west end of the building, the latter made it into a photograph studio where, until the first World War, he did a thriving business.
In November, [1940], Mr. Merryman sold the property to the Westgaard & Foote garage. They have now razed the building to make room for a parking lot. Mr. Merryman has transferred his studio equipment to his residence where he continues to carry on his much-loved profession by means of the photo flood light system.
The building was 62 years old” (1941).
Memories and stories
Photo Gallery
Related Links
Here are some photos by Merryman from the MNHS Photo and Art Database
Here is some more information about C. L. Merryman
Notes
The Willmar Daily Tribune, February 7, 1941.
