What a delightful surprise yesterday evening to find a Gunnerud Bros. business in this wonderful scale model of Silva! Founded in 1912 as one of numerous railroad settlement towns, Silva had a peak population of between 100 and 125 around 1920.
(Click for a full size image.)
Below is a closer shot of the building itself. It was a bonus to find that it matches our house, and how fun that it is right next to the pool hall! Note the houses in the background. This is such a charming model!
The business appears to be a filling station. However, in an Allen’s Parlor Furnace brochure from the 1920s, I found: “Silva, N. D. We certainly think the ALLEN is the best parlor furnace on the market, and we intend to handle no other. It’s a line on which the dealer can make money. GUNNERUD BROS.” A parlor furnace seems the sort of thing one would purchase in a hardware store rather than from a filling station. Hence, this business may have functioned as both a filling station and a hardware store. I look forward to finding out!
The model was built by Bertha, Edith, James, and Lloyd, Lysne and completed in 1982. The model stands in the Silva School House which was moved to Prairie Village Museum in 1978.
Silva School House
Historian Loose on the Northern Plains 