The chain of title for this piece of land followed two branches. We will explore one, and then the other. However, both originated with George W. Frink. He bought the property in 1869, most likely as an investment.

In August of 1873, Frink sold roughly half of the property to Joseph Baker, who held it until 1884. We don't know what he used it for: no records exist about this piece of land from that time. However, we don't believe that Baker built anything there, based on the fact that Rollef Rollefson later built a stone and brick edifice there. Baker most likely held the land as an investment.

In 1884, Rollef O. Rollefson bought the land and held it for 26 years, from 1884 to 1910. He built a stone and brick building there in 1893. The original purpose of this building is lost in the mists of time. Later on, it was probably used as the county jail and a dog pound (more on that later).

Then, in 1910, the City of Montevideo bought Rollefson's piece of land.

At this point, the two chains of title merge, so we will now examine the other chain. To do this, we must go back to 1883. In 1883, Frink sold the second half of the land to Charles Betcher, who hung onto it until 1896. During this time Betcher operated a successful lumber company there. He probably bought and sold lumber and hardware, similar to our present-day ABC.

In 1896, Charles Betcher and his wife, Margaret Betcher, sold their land to the City of Montevideo as part of "Charles Betcher's Addition to Montevideo." The city subsequently leased it to F. B. Rossom and F. W. Amsler for use as a power plant for Montevideo and the surrounding area.

Sometime during the late 1890s or early 1900s a power plant (using both oil and hydroelectric power from the Minnesota Falls) and a flour mill were built on the plot. The flour mill was very important to this farming area's economy and received a large amount of coverage from the local paper.

On April 23, 1909 the Flouring Mill and Elevator at the Montevideo Roller Mill Company was completely destroyed by a fire, dealing a severe blow to the community. The blaze destroyed the grain elevator, along with a large number of valuable machines. According to the report in the local paper, if the winds had been blowing in a different direction the fire could have also destroyed the entirety of Main Street. We believe that the mill was never rebuilt, judging from the lack of mention of it in the local papers from that time onward.

The lease of the land was later extended and reassigned numerous times. These reassignments included giving it to the power plant's board of directors and leasing it to the corporation (Montevideo Electric & Power Company or Minnesota Valley Power Company, depending on the year). Eventually, the power company leased the land to Peder Jacobson, in 1917, who used for unknown purposes.

However, all the leases terminated sometime in the 1920s and the City of Montevideo got the land back. So, in the late 1920s the city owned the entire piece. During the 48 year span in which it held the land (1910-1958), sources said that the current stucco building was used as both a jail and a dog pound. However, we were unable to find any information to corroborate or disprove our human resources as to what the building was used for.

In 1958, Roger W. and Newton M. Anderson bought the entire plot from the City of Montevideo. They subsequently leased the land to Montgomery Ward for use as a tire shop. This was probably the tire division of the department store located on Main Street at the time. The lease lasted for a number of years, until Montgomery Ward moved out.

Then, the Andersons leased the building to its current owners, PMSS&K Law Offices, who eventually bought the building from the Andersons. Sometime during the time that PMSS&K owned it, a two-story addition was tacked onto the south side of the one-story stucco building.

Although we are missing several details, this is as complete a history of the current PMSS&K Law Office building as we have been able to compile.