The Original Rustic Inn Dining Room The Rustic Inn was originally built as a restaurant in the mid 1920’s by the Emil Edison Family. The dining room of the original structure has birch hardwood floors and self-supporting, back to back, 1/2 round vertical log walls. This Historic portion of the original building is still in use today, in its original state. With the exception of a brief stint in the 1960’s the Cafe has been in continuous operation since it opened. The cafe has had many accompaniments over the years. A bar, store, gas, bait and now a gift shop, but one thing has remained constant. It is, and always has been, a cornerstone of the Castle Danger area. Serving as a meeting and gathering place for the local community for over 80 years. The present owners, Jim and Beth Sullivan have operated the restaurant since 1986 and their 16 years is one of the longest running private ownership's on the North Shore today. In 1995 the original cafe and the gift shop had to be relocated, or torn down to make way for highway improvements on highway 61. It was decided that this would be a good time to expand and upgrade this popular seasonal operation. The dining room was removed from the rest of the building and moved. The gift shop building, which had been purchased from Gooseberry State Park in 1988, was also moved and the remaining buildings were sold or torn down. With the two buildings on the new site, great pains were taken to preserve the character and integrity of these historic structures. With the help of the Minnesota Historical Society and an excellent architect, today’s structure was formed. The original dining room sits at one end, in it’s original state, the gift shop sits at the other end and a new dining room and expanded retail space were added in the middle. The Rustic Inn is now a state of the art facility, while maintaining and embellishing it’s very distinctive and very unique North Shore roots. Come experience the charm of the old North Shore and the comfort and beauty of the new. You’ll be glad you did.