Opie purchased this studio, located on the southwest corner of West 4th Street and South Main Street, from C. H. Rogers. Within the next five years, the Zumbro Hotel would occupy this corner, and the original Mayo Clinic Building would be built on the western half of this same block.
Commercial photographers William Opie (Langdon, North Dakota) and Paul Aubin (Hibbing, Minnesota) attended the annual convention for the Photographers' Association of America, which was taking place in St. Paul that year. It's known that a trip to Minnehaha Falls was part of the delegates' itinerary.