Editor’s note: This is the eighth in a series.

Sometimes the late Bidney Bergie, the man who earned the title of “Mr. History” during his lifetime, would present a slide show featuring local business ventures of the past. His intention was to revive memories and hopefully start a short discussion session with members of his audience.

As he drove around the city, the man who was once the district manager for Interstate Power Co., would take photos of various places. What Bergie may have thought was that his photos could serve as reminders of life in another era and help to show the specific changes that evolved at various locations in and around the city.

A good example is what has taken place on the west bank of the place called “the channel” during the past three-plus decades. During those years this location between Bridge Avenue and East Main Street has been used for a branch bank, a pizza palace and the present China Restaurant. And for the first two business ventures once situated between the bridges and just south of the dam at the outlet of Fountain Lake, Bergie had pictorial proof on two of his slides.

Before his death on Feb. 28, 2002, Bergie presented his popular slide shows more than 700 times for various organizations and groups and as part of programs and special events at the Freeborn County Historical Museum. Material for his shows came from a personal collection of 800 to 900 slides, plus his deep knowledge of area history.

— Photos courtesy Freeborn County Historical Museum.