Kess Gallery

As early as 1900 this building was a private residence. And in the early years, it was the personal residence of the ‘notorious’ Nellie McCarthy.

Nellie ran a stylish establishment that catered to the many single men who came to Ely for work at the turn of the century. However, as civilization spread, she was forced to move her business multiple times to keep ‘ahead of the law’, as they say.  She eventually moved her business to a location between Winton and Ely where she would be free from the worry of municipal ordinances.  But her home was here on Sheridan Street.

Continue reading to learn the later history of 130 East Sheridan. 

The building continued as a private residence until the 1970s. The John B. Grahek family lived here from the mid-1930s to 1972. John and his wife Margaret raised six children here. They lost their youngest, Edward at the age of 20, in World War II. 

In 1975, the building housed its first commercial business, the Bois Fort Art Gallery.  The Bois Fort Gallery was initially opened on the Fernberg Road in 1973 by Carl Gawboy and then moved to this location in 1975. Carl Gawboy named the Gallery after the Bois Fort Band of Ojibwe Indians who lived in the area. 

Carl is of Ojibwe and Finnish descent and grew up speaking English, Finnish, and Ojibwe. He is a prominent Indian artist and a retired instructor from the Duluth College of St Scholastica. His art depicts the everyday lives of early American Indians as well as scenes from the City of Ely and the surrounding area.  Carl worked to dispel the stereotypical picture of the American Indian by capturing the Ojibwe at their daily activities – going ricing, setting up camp, and canoeing.  His original work and prints of his work can be seen at the Grand Ely Lodge Dining Room, The Ely-Winton Historical Museum and the Ely City Hall.   

In 1979, Carl accepted a teaching position at the University of Minnesota and sold the business and building to Judy Danzel.   Judy expanded the business to include custom framing and a wider variety of Minnesota artists. She offered classes and workshops featuring Indian crafts like beadwork, birchbark basketry, and leatherwork as well as more standard classes such as framing.

In 1995, Peter and Nina Kess, long time Bois Fort employees purchased the business, renaming it Kess Gallery. You might remember the Kess name from the history of 9 East Chapman Street. Peter is the grandson of Gust and Senja Maki, owners of Maki’s clothing in the early 1900s. In 2019, Peter and Nina retired and sold the building. We wait to see what new life it will have.

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A domicile owned at one time by Nellie McCarty

1930 (about) – Residence of the John B. Grahek Family from the 1930s to 1972

1975 – Bois Fort Galley proprietor and artist, Carl Gawboy

1979 – Bois Fort is purchased by Judy Danzel

1995 – Peter Kess purchases the gallery renaming it Kess Gallery

2019 – Peter and Nina retire

The building awaits a new business

The Sanborn Insurance Maps 1900-1924.

1900 AND 1907 Ely City Directories

Ancestry.com. Accessed April 8th, 2022.

Ely Since 1888 (The Blue Book. Ely, Mn. The Ely Echo. 1988.

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

Information from David Kess