This building on the corner of Parkway and Coffee was built in 1867 and is one of the oldest in Lanesboro. Over those many years, it’s been many things. A general merchandise store, a saloon, a bank, the Lanesboro Benevolent Society, Hansen’s Drugstore, with a reputation for the best chocolate sodas anywhere, and Petal Pushers Cafe. This place has a lot of memories.

Look across the street to the opposite corner. That’s the de Villiers building. Built around 1900, the de Villiers owned it, lived in it, and for many years ran a general store and candy shop on its main floor. They built a pool hall next to it. One of de Villiers's children went on to become a popular Minneapolis musician.

The 1920s and early 1930s were turbulent times in America, including Prohibition, when alcohol was illegal. Lanesboro was mostly a dry town during Prohibition, as was all of Fillmore County. That’s not to say you couldn’t find strong drink here. To find it, buy it, and drink it, somebody had to be making it…secretly.

A little conjecture, a dash of legend, but what’s a key ingredient in making alcohol? Sugar. Lots of sugar. Think candy shop. Think De Villiers. What else do you need? Chemicals and somebody who knows how to mix them. Think drugstore, a place with pharmacists who are good at mixing things. Between those two businesses was a street. Some say underneath that street was and is a tunnel. Remnants of odd doorways do exist. Did secret mixing and making happen in an underground tunnel between those two businesses? Were more than chocolate and sodas available at Hansen’s Drugs? No one knows for sure, but it’s sure fun to think about.