Preserving the Old with the New: Earth Day is to Recycling, As Brick is to...New Growth?

Recycling: Earth Day and a Ton of Bricks

Recycling seems like a natural thing to do. We’ve been told from a young age to help the Earth: recycle those cans and bottles! April 22^nd was Earth Day, and this year I want to put a little spin on what recycling means. Of course you should keep putting those plastic cans, bottles, and that Unhinged Pizza box with pizza grease that no one knows if it’s recyclable or not but we do it anyway, in the recycling bin. But, let’s look at recycling in a little bit different light.

Have you ever heard of upcycling? It’s the idea of taking an object or item and making it into a new purpose; giving it new life. Similarly to the idea of antiquing or flea market shopping, it’s creating something new from the old; allowing the object to have a new life with a new purpose, recycling the material, and being more Earth-friendly. With antiquing, (one of my personal favorite shopping things to do!) you find an item that you feel would serve that perfect purpose or fill that exact spot in your home whether or not your spouse agrees with you. With upcycling, you’re taking that item and not only fulfilling that exact perfect need for your home, but you are putting your own special, personal touch on it by changing it slightly, but still keeping the original life in tact.

Painting furniture or re-staining would be a great example of this. I’ve seen wonderful pieces of furniture restored or “upcycled” by just sanding and re-staining it to bring it back to life. It’s still keeping the originality in tact but adding your own personal flair and hard work to give it that “new look” and gives yourself a sense of pride in your work as well.

Another example of upcycling would be to take an item and change it to make a new item, yet you still see what the original item was. Take two chairs, for example, and put it together to make a bench by adding a wooden board to connect the two. Super cool and functional, yet you can still see the original piece and its history.

Within Glencoe, there are buildings that have been upcycled, and recycled to create new life, and a new purpose. The old “Mink Farm” building, as some know it as, or as others may recognize, the old “Glencoe Brewery/Uncle Sam’s Brewing” has been reused in multiple facets, as stated above. It originally was used as a brewery, hence why, as some locals call this road, the “Brewery Road” (Hennepin Ave turned into County Road 2 South of Glencoe).

The “Glencoe Brewing Company” brewed various types of beer for the local area, along with reaching areas outside of Glencoe as well, partnering with Uncle Sam’s Beer. The Glencoe Brewing Company was in operation from 1873-1918, as shown in the picture (1903) from the McLeod County Historical Society below.

During Prohibition, the Glencoe Brewing Company’s sales took a hit, and eventually caused it to close its doors in 1934. Afterwards, the building stood empty until the fur trade became popular in the 1920s and 1930s, and another owner saw an opportunity to use and “recycle” the building for a new purpose. This owner used it to sell mink furs. This company, the Hercules Fur Company, was based out of Washington, and had a branch office here in Glencoe mainly for breeding minks for furs.

This fur company was in operation until the 1960s when animal activist groups protested the use of animal furs for coats and clothing. One Glencoe citizen who chooses to remain anonymous, recalls, “My dad used to tell us to watch the backyard shed as minks used to escape the mink farm and run across the road into the Glenview Woods area and make a home in our shed. I saw them running around the backyard once.”

After the fur company closed its doors, the building once again remained empty, until recently another owner saw its potential for very different types of businesses: a tree service and apartments.

Today, this building has been recycled into a tree service headquarters and includes 2 apartments. The owner of this property has maintained it to create a new life, a new purpose for the old bricks that are still standing. Yes, there are certain parts that may need some TLC, but I invite you to see the potential, and see the beauty in the idea of upcycling the building into what it is today, the beauty of the bricks that were hand-built, one by one. Instead of tearing it down, it’s being used for a new purpose, a new life.

The bricks offer a sense of history, while the new purpose, the tree service and apartments in it, along with modern homes surrounding the building, creates a sense of lifelong belonging; a way to preserve the past while creating something new. It may not match the homes and buildings surrounding it, but it offers a look into what was, a way for us to learn about what used to be, how Glencoe has been shaped by its history, and how it came to be what it is today.

The “Mink Farm,” as it is called today, was “recycled” into various businesses throughout the years, and was given new life each time, while still holding on to what it was originally meant to be; a place of history, a piece of Glencoe. So next time you drive by or walk by this building, take a second to admire the recycled beauty, the bricks, the history, that is Glencoe.

~Alyson Winn-Lagergren~