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Property Location
Property Features
Although secondary sources suggest a 1933 date of construction, the earliest evidence of the former A & W Root Beer Stand dates to 1947, when the local paper reported that the “A & W Root Beer Stand, Sixth Avenue East, has been reopened under new management,” thus suggesting that it was in existence at least the year previous. Despite the note about “new management,” neither the old nor new is mentioned by name. However, by 1951, the stand was operated by Mrs. Ethel Hart, the widow of Edward Hart who was the head of the fashion department at Montgomery Ward in Menomonie. In June 1956, the stand was sold to Roy and Linda Larson. A 1957 ad run by the Larsons cited the following food and prices: 10 oz. mug of root beer (5 cents); floats (20 cents and 30 cents); root beer cooler (25 cents); Bar B Q (25 cents); hot dogs (20 cents); Coney Island (25 cents); and hot beef (30 cents). In 1958-59, the Larsons sold the stand to Marshall Schaefer and it was known as Schaefer’s A & W Drive-In. At a later date, the A & W affiliation was dropped and it was known as Marshall’s Drive-In, even after it was sold by the Schaefer family. In 2004, the business was purchased by Tom Mauel, who operated it through 2011. Although it was open again in 2014 and 2015, it has since closed.
National And State Register Of Historic Places Listings
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