The Independent Lumber Company owned by W.C. Goddard was on the west side of Grace City; while the Christianson Lumber Company was on the east side. W.C. Goddard bought out Christiansons in February of 1918 and the Christianson yard was turned into a house. The Goddard Lumber Yard burnt in the fall of 1936. He had moved to New Rockford and P.T. Anderson was running it.
Roy McDonald started a lunchroom and pool hall; sold out to Erik Tysk September 16, 1919. Later owners were I.A. Flaters, Earl Hall, Glenn Anderson, James Potter, Ben Kuhry, and Stanley Haakinson.
Swan Dufua had a restaurant (he wore fancy ladies combs in his hair). He also had a hotel. At one time there were three hotels in Grace City, two on the west side of the street and one on the east. Some of the managers were Claude Cumerine, F.S. Chandler, C.A. Sherer, Jack Melherick, Black, James Potter, E.R. Bradley, Ham Chandler, Powers and Reed, Berstrom, Green, I.A. Flatters. All had restaurants attached.
In 1980 Kenneth Topp built a large building to enclose a restaurant, bank, insurance agency and storage. In September 1980 the Sunflower Cafe was opened under the management of Alice Scanson and has been a big improvement to the town with people coming from a distance to enjoy it. It is built to the south of the tracks and is easily accessible to truckers.
Hardly had the rails been laid when several carloads of lumber were shipped in to build an elevator and it was opened for business. Equity Elevator in September 1912. A second elevator, the Farmers Elevator, was soon built from July 1915 to March 1916. The two elevators had handled over 52,000 bushels of grain. On August 3, 1917 at midnight one elevator was struck by lightning and Martin Haverlein took two fire extinguishers and went to the top of the elevator and put it out. It had been started during a rain and lightning storm. It is almost unbelievable that one man could do such a thing, but it was related in the Grace City Gazette. Some of the managers of the elevators were Isaackson, Perkins, John Alfstad, Jorgenson, William Black, George Allen, Jack Anderson, Lane, Lloyd Jensen, and Kenneth and Orin Topp.
Kenneth and Orin Topp bought the elevator after one burnt in 1965. They were just going to use it for their own business but were finally persuaded to open to the public and thus became "Farmers Elevator". They moved the west elevator to where the east one had burnt; the first of a mammoth construction and improvement plan. They now have a capacity of 2,000,000. Sunflowers have been one of the big crops and they have had to pile them on the ground in the fall of the year. They have boxcars with their logo on and have sent out a trainload of grain at a time. This has been a big help to the town.
Source: A History of Foster County 1983 Page 322