by Concordia College students in History 112HU, Fall 2016
Recapturing the Downtown Spirit
Incorporated in 1921, the city of White Bear Lake was a textbook example of a charming small town community. [1] Fueled by growth and progress along a railroad line, it quickly developed a downtown area where its residents could come for a variety of goods and services. As illustrated by the juxtaposed photograph above, this area has remained relatively unchanged as of the 1950s, still boasts a vibrant downtown community that captures the spirit one would find in previous generations. Contrary to popular trends across the United States, downtown White Bear Lake has continued to thrive over the past sixty years, in large part due to a well-maintained sense of identity throughout the community.
Throughout the course of American history, Main Street has become a widespread phenomenon. From rural towns to bustling downtown streets, Main Street can be found in almost every community across the United States. In his review of Main Street: The Face of Urban American, Dennis Alan Mann describes Main Street as “the quintessence of the growth, the vitality, and the democratic spirit that symbolize the American way.” [2] During the 1950s, Washington Avenue, the main street of downtown White Bear Lake, was the source of this growth, vitality, and democratic spirit. This downtown community was a place where its inhabitants could come together to shop, eat, and foster a sense of shared identity.
Over the past forty years, this once cornerstone of American life has begun to deteriorate. As many point out, the introduction of the highway system, as well as the shift of locally-owned stores to large, commercialized shopping centers began to detract from the life of small town USA. [3] However, the effects of these changes have not been felt the same way in downtown White Bear Lake. Many of the storefronts remain unchanged, the Cobblestone Cafe for example, which has persevered on Washington Avenue since its opening in 1947. [4] Furthermore, local businesses continue to flourish, alive and well-supported by the community.
To understand why downtown White Bear Lake is such an abnormality amongst the decline of similar areas across the United States, it is important to reflect upon the community as a whole. In their essay “'Main Street' on Main Street: Community Identity and the Reputation of Sinclair Lewis," Amy Campion and Gary Alan Fine explore the idea of community identity, and its effects on keeping downtown areas, such as the one found in White Bear Lake, intact over time. Campion and Fine assert the following: “Community membership allows people to feel that they are a part of something that has preceded them and will outlast them — something that endures.” [5] Here they claim it is the very people that promote and celebrate themselves that are able to thrive. To be a part of this community, there must further be some identity that embodies the community, to which its residents can relate.
It is then important to understand in what way this community identity is established and perpetuated. In their essay, Campion and Fine claim that a uniting symbol or tradition is key is allowing a community to come together. It is in these traditions that residents feel at most united, represented by their example of Sauk Centre’s annual community celebration. [6] Similarly, White Bear Lake is able to craft and celebrate their own community identity every summer with Marketfest. A weekly gathering of all in the White Bear Lake area throughout July and August, this tradition has gone on for years in downtown. Here, people are able to meet and connect on the very street in all the photographs above above. Furthermore, this event is supported by local businesses, who then set up tents along the street where they are able to sell their wares. As a result, the downtown area is able to showcase itself in a positive light to those in the community, who then continue the trend of support and preservation. Marketfest as a continual celebration of the community, as well as an event that highlights downtown itself, is thus one of many key aspects in which a sense of identity is established. As a result, downtown White Bear Lake has been able to continually support itself throughout the previous decades.
Finally, there is value in exploring a situation in which this community identity has helped preserve an aspect of White Bear Lake. Over the last ten years, the lake itself, just blocks from the downtown area, had begun to drain. The source of the problem remained unknown for a great deal of time, causing concern among the residents. As a result, a benefit was thrown to raise funds, looking into the possible causes of the leak. Organized and supported by the community, these residents were able to come together to help preserve the town that they lived in. [7] Such effects of community are thus seen as beneficial to the town itself, and can also be shown as a way the downtown area continues to thrive. Over the past sixty years, this continued effort by the residents of White Bear Lake has been an important source of stability for the landscape of the downtown area, reflected by its ability to thrive instead of deteriorate.
By forming those bonds in White Bear Lake, celebrating the local businesses and culture of the downtown area, these residents have built an enduring downtown, able to stand amidst a declining pattern seen elsewhere across America. They associate themselves with a common identity, celebrating the area is which they live, doing so by participating in tradition linked to this downtown area. Feeling as if they belong to something bigger than themselves, then, these residents contribute to an enduring culture and community. As a result, downtown White Bear Lake has been an area that has continued to thrive.
Footnotes:
[1] "History of White Bear Lake," City of White Bear Lake, accessed December 2, 2016, http://www.whitebearlake.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7B66B1FFA6-12B1-4E23-B823-2BE76FBAD439%7D.
[2] "What Happened to America's Main Streets," National Main Street Center, accessed December 2, 2016, http://www.mainstreet.org/main-street/about-main-street/getting-started/what-happened-to-main-street.html.
[3] Dennis Alan Mann, Winterthur Portfolio 14, no. 3 (1979): 320-22, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1180666.
[4] Caitlin Hill, Cobblestone Cafe’s White Bear Lake Legacy, White Bear Lake Magazine, July, 2013, accessed December 2, 2016, http://whitebearlakemag.com/article/cobblestone-cafe/white-bear-lake-legacy.
[5] Amy Campion and Gary Alan Fine, ""Main Street" on Main Street: Community Identity and the Reputation of Sinclair Lewis,” Sociological Quarterly 39, no. 1 (1998): 95, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4121012.
[6] Campion and Fine, "'Main Street' on Main Street: Community Identity and the Reputation of Sinclair Lewis,” 95.
[7] "Lake Levels", City of White Bear Lake, accessed December 2, 2016, http://www.whitebearlake.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={273B90AA-5480-41AA-BBC7-A61F9E6BA5A0}.
Photo credits:
Historical: White Bear Lake Area Historical Society, White Bear Lake, Minnesota.
Rephotograph: Photo by author.