Roots Hair Salon

Although the early history of this building is somewhat unclear, it appears to have existed as early as 1900 when it was the site of a saloon. In 1906 the building was vacant. In 1914 a Variety Store was located here. And in 1916 it was home to Pengal’s Dime Store. Mr. Pengal had started a business on Central Avenue, and then moved to this location. In 1917/1918, he relocated again to the building next door to the east which continues to house the Pengal business today. Later this building was home to Poljanec’s Bar and in the late 1940s it was the Hillside Café operated by Theresa Agnich. Theresa’s story follows.

Theresa, born in 1908, was the fifth of six children born to Matthew and Margaret (Rozich) Agnich, both Austrian/Slovenian immigrants. When Theresa was just six years old, her father died. Her mother raised her family as a widow with the help of her husband’s brother, Steve Agnich. Despite the hardships that came with the loss of a parent during that period, Theresa was able to graduate from high school and then in 1928 from Ely Junior College (now Minnesota North College - Vermilion Campus). Theresa continued her education receiving a bachelor’s degree in dietetics from the University of Minnesota at a time when few women attended college. Upon graduation, Theresa worked as a hospital dietitian in the Twin Cities and maintained her job through the difficult 1930s when unemployment was high for everyone, but higher for women. Later during WWII Theresa served in the military, managing a military hospital food service in the Detroit area.  

After the war, Theresa returned to Ely. As the only unmarried daughter in the family, it fell to her to care for her aging mother which she did with “appreciation” and “devotion” (as recounted by her nephew). During that time Theresa ran the Hillside Café in this building, offering excellent and healthy meals to her patrons.  Later, in the late 1950s through 1972 she managed the food service program at Ely’s Bloomenson Community Hospital. 

In addition to her activities as a career woman, Theresa was an active artist, gardener, and musician. 

In December of 1950 at the age of 42, Theresa married Joe Popesh. Their marriage lasted for 39 years until his death in 1990. When Theresa died seven years later at the age of 89, she left her entire estate to the Minnesota North College – Vermilion Foundation to fund scholarships for community college graduates going on to obtain their bachelor’s degrees, recognizing the important role education played in her own life and the opportunities it provided her.

Other businesses followed the Hillside Café at this location. In the late 1950s, Sally Carlson Passi ran the restaurant, calling it Sally’s Hillside Café. In the mid-1960s the building housed Russ Robertson’s Ely Auto parts Store which operated there for over ten years. The building rested for a time. Then in 1999, the YaTaHey Outdoors Store opened here. YaTaHey, now on Harvey Street, provided a guiding service, snow mobile rentals, and fishing equipment. In 2007 Jessi Leeson completed a significant renovation and opened the Roots Hair Salon you see today.

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1900 – a Saloon is here

19?? – Poljaneco’s Bar

1948 (about) ­­–Theresa Agnich returns to Ely and opens the Hillside Cafe

1950 – Theresa marries Joe Popesh

1950s (late) – Sally Carlson runs Sally’s Hillside Cafe

1960 – Russ Robertsons Ely Auto Parts

1999 – YaTaHey Outdoors Store – Roger Skraba proprietor

2007 – Roots Hair Salon – Jessi Leeson proprietor

The Sanborn Insurance Maps 1900-1924.

1900 AND 1907 Ely City Directories

Ancestry.com. Accessed April 8th, 2022.

Kapsch, Stefan. "Aunt Theresa and the Two Legacies." The Ely Echo (Ely, Minnesota) April 27, 2013.

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

Information from Jessie Leeson (current building owner).

Information from Roger Skraba (previous building owner).