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Stickney Inn

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Color image of the Stickney Inn and Store, looking east, July 2014. Photographed by Amy Lucas.

Stickney Inn and Store, looking east, July 2014. Photographed by Amy Lucas.

Horace Stickney built the Stickney Inn and Store in 1929 at mile marker 78.75 in Schroeder, Minnesota. The two-story Tudor Revival-style building is located on the south side of the scenic North Shore Drive (Highway 61) near the west bank of the Cross River and is situated on .47 acres. After a 2002 renovation, the building became the Cross River Heritage Center, operated by the Schroeder Area Historical Society.

In 1921, Horace T. Stickney (1885–1983) purchased a thirteen-acre parcel of land along the Cross River in Schroeder from Hedley Redmyer. The parcel had been part of the Schroeder Lumber Company’s logging camp.

At the time of the purchase, the property included the logging superintendent’s frame house, a shed, an office building, and a log bunkhouse. Stickney called it a “depressed place” because of past logging and the burned landscape. His first store, built in 1922, burned down when the gas stove malfunctioned during food preparation.

After the fire, local artisans and an unnamed architect helped Stickney build a new structure featuring prominent, half-timbered gables. On June 6, 1929, the Cook County News Herald reported that the Stickney Inn featured bedrooms and a large dining room as well as a confectionary and store. The first floor had a grocery store, a kitchen, a post office, a dining room, and a living room with a large stone fireplace. The second floor had seven tourist bedrooms for 15–20 people. It was one of the first buildings in Schroeder to have indoor bathrooms.

Soon, Stickney received requests for cabin rentals. In 1930, he built a log cabin, measuring sixteen by twenty feet, behind the inn overlooking the Cross River. After he completed a second cabin, a Minnesota tourism pamphlet described the site as “Stickney’s Resort.” By 1936, Stickney had built eight cabins with views of the river and the shores of Lake Superior.

The inn served as a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) winter headquarters for workers who arrived on the North Shore in 1933. They constructed 135 miles of telephone line, forty miles of truck lines, thirty bridges, three dams, and sixteen Forest Service buildings. The single-lane steel bridge (built in 1915) over the Cross River was replaced in 1932.

A small sign on Highway 61 advertised the Stickney Store and Cabins. It was a destination on the North Shore, and the Northland Bus Depot maintained a depot stop at the inn throughout the 1940s and 1950’s.

The Stickneys did not offer organized activities; tourists were attracted to the hikes, trout fishing, and games of horseshoes. The inn did have an ample living room and a piano used for songfests and dancing. Author Florence Page Jacques wrote about her visit to the Stickney Inn and Store on November 13, 1942. She noted that she was surprised to see the inn’s three modern bathrooms and to stay warm in the snug, airtight building.

Horace and Nell Stickney sold the inn to Horace’s nephew, Harry Stickney Lamb (1909–1971), in 1955. Harry and Doris Mae Lamb (1913–2003) moved to Schroeder in December 1954. After Harry Lamb became postmaster in 1955, they renamed the inn Lamb’s Resort.

In the early 1950s, the Erie Mining Company started construction of a taconite loading facility 2.5 miles south of Lamb’s Resort. Harry Lamb made an agreement with the ore carriers to supply them with groceries.

The third generation to live and work in the Stickney/Lamb store took over in 1965. Harry Lamb’s son, Horace “Skip” Lamb, purchased the resort with his wife, Linda.

In 1976, the Lambs separated the Stickney Inn and Store from the resort property and sold the inn to Bill and Gloria Jordon. The Lambs moved the post office into the empty Pure Oil Station. The Jordons named their purchase Cross River General Store.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) condemned the inn and store in preparation for highway repairs and bridge replacement in 1998.The Schroeder Area Historical Society persuaded MnDOT to transfer the title of the Stickney Inn and Store building to the Town of Schroeder in 1998. With secured funding and volunteer support, the Schroeder Area Historical Society completed the building’s restoration in 2002 and began operating the building as Cross River Heritage Center.

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© Minnesota Historical Society
  • Bibliography
  • Related Resources

Bell, Mary T. Cutting Across Time: Logging, Rafting and Milling the Forests of Lake Superior. Minneapolis: Nodin Press, 1999.

Livdahl, Barbara Smith. Schroeder Area History …As Shared By Those Who Lived It. Schroeder, MN: Schroeder Area Historical Society, 2010.

Schroeder Area Historical Society newsletters, 1997–2016
Archival Collection, Schroeder Area Historical Society, Schroeder

“North Shore a Winter Resort.” Cook County News-Herald, December 27, 1928.

Humphrey, M. M. Interview with Horace Stickney, June 28, 1980.
Oral History Collection, Cook County Historical Society, Grand Marais
Description: Digital audio recording and transcript of oral history interview with Horace Stickney.

Niewald, Earl. Interview with Horace Stickney, May 22, 1977.
Oral History Collection, Cook County Historical Society, Grand Marais
Description: Cassette recording of oral history interview with Horace Stickney.

Related Images

Color image of the Stickney Inn and Store, looking east, July 2014. Photographed by Amy Lucas.
Color image of the Stickney Inn and Store, looking east, July 2014. Photographed by Amy Lucas.
Black and white photograph of the first Stickney Store, facing east, ca. 1922.
Black and white photograph of the first Stickney Store, facing east, ca. 1922.
Black and white photograph of the Stickney Inn and Store, facing east, ca. 1929.
Black and white photograph of the Stickney Inn and Store, facing east, ca. 1929.
Black and white photograph of the Stickney Inn and Store, living room, ca. 1930.
Black and white photograph of the Stickney Inn and Store, living room, ca. 1930.
Black and white photograph of the exterior of Stickney’s grocery store, ca. 1930s.
Black and white photograph of the exterior of Stickney’s grocery store, ca. 1930s.
Black and white photograph of Stickney’s Cabins, ca. 1936.
Black and white photograph of Stickney’s Cabins, ca. 1936.
Black and white photograph of Stickney Inn and Store, facing south, ca. 1930.
Black and white photograph of Stickney Inn and Store, facing south, ca. 1930.
Black and white photograph of Stickney Inn and Store, facing south, from Cramer Road, with gas station at right, ca. 1940.
Black and white photograph of Stickney Inn and Store, facing south, from Cramer Road, with gas station at right, ca. 1940.
Black and white photograph of a sign on Highway 61 marking “Stickney’s Cabins & Store,” ca. 1940.
Black and white photograph of a sign on Highway 61 marking “Stickney’s Cabins & Store,” ca. 1940.
Black and white photograph of the interior of Stickney’s grocery store, ca. 1950.
Black and white photograph of the interior of Stickney’s grocery store, ca. 1950.
Color image of Lamb’s Resort, ca. 1957, after the inn was connected to old gas station, facing south.
Color image of Lamb’s Resort, ca. 1957, after the inn was connected to old gas station, facing south.
Black and white photograph of the Stickney Inn and Store dining room, ca. 1960.
Black and white photograph of the Stickney Inn and Store dining room, ca. 1960.
Color image of Lamb’s Resort, ca. 1968, after Skip and Linda Lamb purchased it; a new laundry and grocery addition is at the right of the inn.
Color image of Lamb’s Resort, ca. 1968, after Skip and Linda Lamb purchased it; a new laundry and grocery addition is at the right of the inn.
Color image of Stickney Inn and Store, ca. 1976 when the Jordans operated it as the Cross River General Store.
Color image of Stickney Inn and Store, ca. 1976 when the Jordans operated it as the Cross River General Store.
Color image of Stickney Inn and Store, north elevation, facing south, July 2014. Photographed by Amy Lucas.
Color image of Stickney Inn and Store, north elevation, facing south, July 2014. Photographed by Amy Lucas.
Color image of Stickney Inn and Store, east elevation, facing southwest, July 2014. Photographed by Amy Lucas.
Color image of Stickney Inn and Store, east elevation, facing southwest, July 2014. Photographed by Amy Lucas.
Color image of Stickney Inn and Store, south elevation, facing north, July 2014. Photographed by Amy Lucas.
Color image of Stickney Inn and Store, south elevation, facing north, July 2014. Photographed by Amy Lucas.
Color image of Stickney Inn and Store, first floor living room, facing north, July 2014. Photographed by Amy Lucas.
Color image of Stickney Inn and Store, first floor living room, facing north, July 2014. Photographed by Amy Lucas.
Color image of Stickney Inn and Store, second floor bedroom, facing northeast, July 2014. Photographed by Amy Lucas.
Color image of Stickney Inn and Store, second floor bedroom, facing northeast, July 2014. Photographed by Amy Lucas.
Color image of Stickney Inn and Store, second floor stair, facing east, at right, July 2014. Photographed by Amy Lucas.
Color image of Stickney Inn and Store, second floor stair, facing east, at right, July 2014. Photographed by Amy Lucas.
Color image of the Stickney Inn and Store, basement, facing east, July 2014. Photographed by Amy Lucas.
Color image of the Stickney Inn and Store, basement, facing east, July 2014. Photographed by Amy Lucas.

Turning Point

The stock market crashes in October 1929, leaving Stickney unable to pay his bills. He receives a financial boost when construction workers building the telephone lines along Highway 61 spend the winter of 1929 at his inn.

Chronology

1922

Horace Stickney builds a small store near the Cross River Bridge on Highway 61.

1923

Tourism comes to Schroeder after Horace Stickney sells out his entire order of candy, cigars, and pop in one day.

1925

Stickney builds his own power plant to run his facilities.

1928

While Horace and Nell Stickney visit Duluth for the day, fire from a broken stove burns the store down on November 21.

1929

Stickney hires an architect and rebuilds a two story, Tudor Revival Style building.

1930s

The Stickneys build eleven cabins along the shore of Lake Superior, overlooking the Cross River canyon.

1954

The Stickneys sell their store and resort to their nephew Harry Lamb and his wife, Doris.

1955

Harry Lamb is appointed postmaster and the operation is renamed Lamb’s Resort.

1957

Erie Mining Company builds Taconite Harbor; Harry Lamb negotiates with ore carrier companies to supply them with groceries.

1950’s

A Pure Oil Station opens at the resort along with amenities like a laundromat, barbershop, and campground with modern facilities.

1965

Harry Lamb’s son Skip and his wife, Linda, move to Schroeder to help with the resort.

1976

Bill Jordon purchases the store and marine supply business and renames it Cross River General Store.

1986

The National Register of Historic Places lists the Schroeder Lumber Company Bunkhouse, which sits on the parcel south of the Stickney Inn.

1998

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) condemns the inn and store in preparation for highway repairs and bridge replacement and transfers the building’s title to the Town of Schroeder.

2002

The Schroeder Area Historical Society finishes restoration and begins maintaining the property as Cross River Heritage Center. It holds a grand opening on September 20.