When John MacGregor built this commercial building in 1915, houses still lined South University from Church Street to Forest Avenue. By 1957 those houses were fronted by one-story shop additions. Most upper floors remained residential. In 1960 a one-story commercial building, located on the corner to your right replaced the Lighthouse Coffee Shop, adjacent stores, and the large house in back.
University Towers was completed in 1965. At eighteen stories, it was then the tallest building in town. The Food Mart, seen in the photo, had opened on this corner the year before in MacGregor’s building. It supplied groceries for the neighborhood for twenty years.
The Brown Jug opened in 1935 on the other side of the street. A favorite restaurant with students and alumni, its name celebrated the trophy for UM’s historic football rivalry with the University of Minnesota. The Campus Theater opened in 1957 down the block from the Brown Jug. It catered to a growing art film audience, which lined up to see the latest Fellini or Bergman release.