OLUF HILDRE¶
Oluf and Mabel Hildre
Oluf Hildre (also spelled Olof and Olaf) was born May 1, 1876 in Hildre, near Aalsund, Norway. He came to Petersburg at the age
of 17 years in 1892. The land he homesteaded was the quarter section west of the Bert Andrews farm. He moved to Petersburg and went into partnership in the Petersburg Mercantile Company with his brother Ole Hildre and Hans and Peter Flem in 1903. He married Mabel Johnson in 1911. In 1912 he moved to Dahlen and built and operated the Dahlen Mercantile Company.
Although his main interest was the store and farming, he served two terms as state representative. He sold his Store to Christian Olson and Clarence Bjorsness and retired in July, 1938. Mr. and Mrs. Hildre have one daughter, Clarice, who lives in Seattle, Wash.
Petersburg Mercantile Company¶
In 1893 another store was built by Martin Ekrom, P. I. Flem, Hans Flem, Andrew K. Reiten, Ole Sonderland, Ole Hildre and Olaf Hilde. The original store is the northeast part of the present Eber Bull building. This store was later incorporated and became known as the Petersburg Mercantile Company. The store was enlarged in 1905 when the south part was built. In 1924 Mr. and Mrs. P. I. Flem became sole owners of the store. Its name was then changed to the "Flem Store." They continued its operation until 1941 when the store was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Eber Bull.
Oil Companies¶
The Petersburg Oil Co., the predecessor of Sparky's Oil Co., started in business June 1, 1926, with Olaf Hildre, H. W. Hildre and A. E. Iverson, a salesman for the Pure Oil Co., as shareholders in the corporation. H. W. Hildre was manager. The old light plant, now the poultry house of the creamery was rented as warehouse. Two 15,000 gallon storage tanks were installed, one for white gasoline and one for kerosene. A Model T Ford truck with 370 gallon tank was used for delivery. Conrad Hildre was named manager in 1928. A service station was built on First Avenue (then U. S. Highway 2) across from the lumber yard in 1932. O. M. Hildremyr started as manager January 1, 1937. During World War Il the
company was leased to the Socony Vacuum Oil Co. with W. J. Dalgarno as agent for two years and B. R. Swendsied for one year. O. M. Hildremyr bought the company in April 1945 and changed the name to Sparky's Oil Co. The service station was moved to the present site Of Iverson's Fairway and leased to Allen Grove as a barber shop for a little over a year. It was later moved south of Petersburg where a new station is planned along the present route of U. S. Highway 2.