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It all started in 1898 when Great Grandpa Joe Ruttger, who
had emigrated from Germany in the late 19th century, built some cottages
on the farm he had homesteaded in Bay Lake, Minnesota.
Fishermen would take the train to Deerwood from the Twin
cities. Joe would meet them at the station with his team of horses
and drive them five miles to his farm on Bay Lake. There wasn't much
else to do but fish, but the fishing was good, the cabins by the lake were
clean and comfortable, and the meals which his wife, Josephine, cooked were
delicious.
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Minnesota Resort Pioneers
Josephine and Joseph Ruttger center
sons Bill, Ed (left) Alex, Max (right)
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The fishermen returned year after year to fish and enjoy
the wonderful hospitality. In those days there was no
air-conditioning and many of the guests came from Texas, Nebraska,
Oklahoma, and Missouri to spend the entire summer in the cool northern
Minnesota climate. Joe built a cabin or so every year and his resort
continued to grow. Ruttger's Bay Lake Lodge, is now the oldest
resort in Minnesota still operated by its founding family. It is now operated by Joe's grandson Jack Ruttger and
his family.
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Birchmont Beach Hotel Lobby
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Eventually all four of Joe's sons and some of the
grandsons had their own resorts for a total of five Ruttger resorts in
Minnesota and three in Florida. In the fall of 1936 Joe's sons Max
and Alex heard that the grand old resort in Bemidji, the Birchmont
Beach Hotel, which had gone bankrupt in 1934 in the heart of the
depression, was for sale. In September of 1936 they bid on the
property and acquired it for $39,000.00.
To
Birchmont Hotel
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