Tom Brown’s Bottle Shop (1947); Wildlife Liquor

In the early years there was a small building in this space, sometimes used as a livery stable for the larger building to the north. At some point, it became a part of the larger building, owned since 1923 by the Anton Stepec Family. The Stepecs rented the first-floor spaces to local businesses and lived on the second floor. In the 1930s or earlier, this smaller space was a liquor store, managed by Mr. Bouska. In 1947 Big Tom Brown continued the liquor business at this location. Big Tom Brown was one of Ely’s more famous (or infamous) residents. For more information on Big Tom, read below.

In 1947, Big Tom Brown rented this building and ran a liquor store here until his death in 1959. But his history goes back further to St Paul where he served on the St Paul Police Force during the lucrative 1920s and 1930s.

Big Tom came to St Paul from West Virginia in 1910. He had various jobs before becoming a patrolman in 1914. In 1919 he was promoted to detective. And after distinguishing himself by gunning down an escaped murderer, he was appointed to the St Paul Police vice unit, the “purity squad”. As part of the squad, he quickly learned to extort money from gambling casinos, speakeasies, and brothels in exchange for protection from the police. At one point he was arrested for misappropriating large amounts of liquor confiscated in a police raid. He was known to protect known criminals such as John Dillinger and members of the Barker-Karpis Gang. In spite of (or perhaps because of) these activities, he eventually reached the position of St Paul Police Chief with the support of the notorious mobster, Leon Gleckman, aka ‘the Al Capone of St Paul’. During Brown’s tenure, he was said to have presided over a period of ‘unprecedented corruption.’ 

Eventually, he lost his position as chief when he was found to have ignored tips about a series of robberies executed by the Barker-Karpis Gang. Still, he maintained his position on the force and was appointed to the “kidnap squad”. This provided even more opportunities for personal gain. However, the kidnappings were not problem free and in 1936, he was implicated in a criminal conspiracy with local crime bosses and the Barker-Karpis gang in committing two kidnappings, the Bremer kidnapping and the Hamm kidnapping. He was discharged in October 1936 but was never successfully prosecuted for any of his crimes.

After leaving the police force in disgrace, Big Tom moved to Morris, Minnesota and ran a liquor store there until 1946, at which time a municipal voting campaign forced him to close his business and leave town.

He then moved to Ely, a reliably more tolerant community, where he ran “Tom Brown’s Bottle Shop” at this location.

But Big Tom’s history in northern Minnesota goes back to an even earlier time when he was on the St Paul Police Force. During that time, he had property on Crane Lake. It was a ‘resort’ of sorts built on a point of land protected on most sides by water. Legend has it, that Tom Brown brought his mobster pals up to the cabin to hide out. When the property was sold, the new owners cleared out mountains of empty liquor bottles and cigarette marred furniture. There was also a very fast Chris Craft Cruiser in the boathouse, available for a speedy escape into Canada, should the Federal Agents get too close.  

Tom Brown and his wife, Mary, are buried in the Ely Cemetery. You can visit them there today.

The building continued as a liquor store and sometimes bar through multiple owners: Galpin’s Liquor (1960), Radar Liquor (1964), Stepec Liquor (1968), J&J Liquor (1988 or earlier) and Wildlife Liquor (2005 about). Most recently, Wildlife Liquor was owned and operated by Sarah Burger, the granddaughter of the original property owner, Anton Stepec. It now awaits a new opportunity. 

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In 1900 – empty lot

In 1906 – there is a small building of unknown use

1934 (or earlier) – Bouska’s Liquor

1947 – Big Tom Brown’s Liquor Store

1960 – Galpins Liquor – Earl Galpin proprietor

1964 (about) – Rader Liquor

1968 – Stepec Liquor – Steve Stepec proprietor

1980 (about) – Stepec Liquor – Jo and Cindy Kobe

1988 (or earlier) – J+J Liquor – Jeff and Jolyn Arntz proprietors

2005 (about) – Wildlife Liquor – Sarah (Stepec) Burger proprietor

The Sanborn Insurance Maps 1900-1924.

1900 AND 1907 Ely City Directories

Ancestry.com. Accessed April 8th, 2022.

Wikipedia: Tom Brown, (Police Chief)

The Ely Miner, Ely Mn (January 1959)

Ely Phone Directories from 1949 to 2020 (available at the Ely-Winton Historical Society).

Information from Sara Burger (granddaughter of the original building owner)

Information from Steve Stepec

Information from Brenda Thomas Dettman (daughter of the couple who bought Tom Brown’s Crane Like property).