Sherburne History Center Blog

As World War Two entered the fifth year of battles and bloodshed, a little-known event of some pride to the citizen of Sherburne County unfolded in the naval yards of California.   Although unreported in Sherburne County newspapers, on July 10, 1944, the Navy officially launched the cargo ship the USS Sherburne, (APA 250) named for Sherburne County, Minnesota.   The N avy designed the Sherburne as a Haskell class transport ship, built to haul 1500 troops and their combat equipment to areas of the Pacific Theatre.   After its launching and shakedown exercises, the Sherburne sailed from California to Hawaii, and destinations throughout the Pacific. Her crew sailed to Guam and the Philippines before taking part in the Battle of Okinawa in May and June 1945.   The Sherburne ended the war in Yokohama, witnessing the surrender of Japan.   As a Haskell class ship, the Sherburne was designed to move rapidly through ocean waters, relying on speed to avoid subma...

The 1915 Bank of Elk River Building located on Jackson Street.  Although not visible, a side entrance to  the bank led to the basement lounge for farm families and ladies Recent efforts to map the Elk River business district provided some interesting results, not the least of these is the development of a ladies’ lounge in the Bank of Elk River basement.   Researching the lounge, shows the businessmen of Elk River very attuned to early 1900s marketing and customer service ideas.   Their efforts to recruit entire families shows an appreciation for a close-knit community. Fire destroyed the business district of Elk River in April 1915.   The Bank of Elk River immediately developed plans for a new bank building. With the new construction on Jackson Street, the bank also introduced the idea of providing a “rest room for farmers wives and families.”   The idea being to provide “a place for farmers wives and families a place to rest and visit with one a...

Daylight Savings Times becomes effective, this year (2019), in slightly more than one week.   Reviewing DST and the history seems appropriate to appreciate the experiment.   The idea originated more than 200 years ago, yet, came into common use with the beginning of World War One.   Even today it remains a confusing experiment in time. Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight savings time in 1784.   While touring France, he wrote an essay, “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light,” proposing Parisians could save the cost of candles if they were to rise from bed an hour earlier each day. Using natural light to start the work day would lead to significant savings.   Many readers regarded his suggestion as an attempt at humor and was not taken seriously.       The start of World War One, Germany and her allies adopted a form of daylight savings time to save on the short supplies of coal and other fuels necessary for ...