ELY - The Dorothy Molter Museum here recently replaced the flooring in its Interpretive Center through support from the Minnesota Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation with a $3,270 Culture and Tourism grant. Total project investment was $6,540.
The center is the guest services headquarters and houses the admission check-in counter, gift shop, public restroom and several mini-exhibits. It serves as the first point of contact for museum guests, according to Jess Edberg, the museum’s executive director.
“Leading up to the flooring project, we made several other improvements to the Interpretive Center with revenue generated through fundraising events,” she said. “A new service counter, staff workstation, and interpretive displays and signage were added, and repairs were made to the building’s entry and exit points, electrical and heating systems, and energy efficiency.”
As highlighted in the IRRR’s monthly online newsletter, The Ranger, the local museum is a community landmark and has been part of Ely’s economy and culture for nearly three decades.
Dorothy, a licensed nurse from Chicago, first visited Isle of Pines resort on Knife Lake with family members in 1930 at age 23. As her annual visits with family continued, she developed a friendship with resort owner Bill Berglund based on their mutual love of the wilderness. Eventually Dorothy would reside on the island year-round to assist Berglund with resort operations and maintenance. He passed away in 1948 and his family deeded the resort to Dorothy.
She began making homemade root beer in 1952 and sold it to thousands of canoeists and visitors to her resort earning her the name Root Beer Lady. Dorothy gained attention from media and tourists due to her unorthodox lifestyle. She was an unmarried, female sole owner-proprietor of a wilderness resort.
The attention culminated with the passing of the 1964 Wilderness Act when her Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) property was purchased by the United States government. A successful petition resulted in Dorothy remaining on her property through a temporary lease until her death. She passed away at age 79 and was the last non-indigenous resident of the two-million-acre BWCAW.
“We are very grateful for the support from Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation,” Edberg said. “The Culture and Tourism grant program has had a significant impact to our museum, not only for the recent flooring project but for other projects in the past.