Sherburne History Center Blog

  While researching a general topic of education in Sherburne County, a greater understanding of the architecture of schoolhouses emerged.   By this I suggest that searching for details of the large, brick, near-monumental schools in Sherburne County reveals an interesting pattern.   The best known of the large schools in Sherburne County resides in Elk River.   In 1883, fire destroyed the Elk River school.   A fire resistant, brick building replaced the destroyed structure.   A two-story edifice, a school for all grades opened its doors.   This building is the first of the large, semi-permanent edifices that pre-dates education reform and expands the possibilities for education in Sherburne County.   First brick schoolhouse in Elk River pre-1900 The first graduating class of this new Elk River school matriculated in 1888.   Eleven years later, in 1899 the state of Minnesota advanced education in Sherburne County.   That year, the Sc...

  Halloween arrives in just a few days.   It seems appropriate to explore the symbolism in death.   Cemeteries contain an abundance of symbols in the grave markers, plants, and architecture.   Understanding the meaning of a few of these symbols might give us a greater appreciation of the planning and design of cemeteries and the communities surrounding these resting places. Entryway of Becker Cemetery, Becker, MN.   Look closely, hidden by the evergreens, is  the arched entryway to the cemetery It seems as though everything in a cemetery contains some symbolic meaning.   The shape of the entryways to many burial grounds represent the gates of heaven.   Many cemeteries have pine trees and other evergreens to remind us of the concept of eternal life.   And the headstones often resemble bed stands to suggest eternal rest.   We haven’t even looked at the headstones, yet the cemeteries overflow with symbolism and, seeming, prayers f...

This week marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Halloween Blizzard of 1991.   Memorable to the history of Minnesota and, to a lesser degree, Sherburne County.   We have witnessed Mother Nature and her ability to inflict significant turmoil in our lives, with blizzards, flooding, tornadoes, and other catastrophic events.   Transportation by any means possible during the  1991 Halloween Blizzard.  photo courtesy of Elk  River Star News collection The Halloween Blizzard is one of these events that inflicted significant challenges into the lives of Minnesotans.   Like the Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940, the Halloween Blizzard started as an innocent snowstorm.   Suddenly it erupted into something so much greater.   Record snow fell in 1991.   In a 24-hour period, Duluth recorded more than 24 inches of snow.   Sherburne County recorded an estimated 16 inches.   The Elk River Star News also reported snow drifts as high as fifteen f...

The letters from George Bostrom to his sister document the events of World War One in interesting detail. Only after the war is over, he writes about seeing action in the Argonne Forest. More importantly, in the chronolo0gical order of his letters, he describes his seven days of leave in December 1918. He provides an interesting contrast between life on the front lines versus the luxury hotel he stays in Chambray, France.  I am having just a dandy time at present , he wrote. Have been over here long enough to be granted a seven day pass and here I am at Chambray to enjoy it. And I sure am enjoying it. After being in the lines for nearly a month of real hardships. Laying in shell holes and digin’s, what we call them, lots of times wet thru and thru and cold and then sent to a place like this with every comfort you can think of.    He went on to describe the luxuries of the ever-present Y.M.C.A. The Y.M.C.A I must tell you about. There’s a Y. here in a very large bu...

  Recently, it occurred to me, this blog heaped a great deal of attention on athletics in Elk River.   Unfortunately, the attention focused on men’s sports, specifically football and basketball.   It is time to shift the focus and give attention to women in sports in Sherburne County. Elk River Women's team, 1921 As early as 1921, several schools in and around Elk River offered Women’s Basketball to the female students.   Based upon the writing in the Elk River yearbook the women of Elk River presented a relatively new sport to the student body. The description of the Elk River team noted “inexperienced” players for the team.   In addition, the yearbooks writers reported “a lack of a suitable place in which to practice.”   In spite of these shortcomings, the Elk River team posted a 2 and 3 record, facing Anoka, Princeton, Buffalo, and Monticello.   The women of Elk River continued to build on their experience.   Women’s Basketball became a reg...

  Football season is upon us.   It seemed very appropriate to note the great history of Football in Sherburne County.   Sherburne county athletes played organized games of football for 130 years.   According to “A Century of Pride The History of Elk River Football,” the first game reported in the local news witnessed Elk River defeating a team from Monticello by a score of 29 to zero.   Since then, Sherburne County presented a number of notable games.   Here are two seasons of Elk River High School football players, 1914 and 1927.   Note, 1927 saw a championship season, with the Elk River team recording a record of 5-1-1.    Later, Big Lake and Becker presented outstanding teams.   The Big Lake team from 1967 presented below. Elk River 1914 Elk River Championship Team 1927                          Big Lake 1967

  With the coming of the twentieth anniversary of the attack on the Twin Towers, 9/11, it may be appropriate to take some time and think about the events of that day.   Where were you when the towers were attacked?   Let’s think about the 3,000 people killed that day, and the 6,000 injured.   Remember, the attacks also hit the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and a fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania. This week, every memorial ought to serve as a  reminder of what happened on 11 September 2001 This day is perhaps the single most important event of a generation.   Maybe we can take the events of that day, and the days immediately following, to become more sympathetic, more empathetic, more generous individuals.   Let’s emulate the good from the people that suffered that day. Remember them for the kindness and courage they showed us.   Learn from them and become better individuals. Let’s take some time and think: Where were you when the towers were...

A few weeks ago, we shared a few lines of letters from Pvt. George Bostrom to his sister.  Bostrom, originally from Elk River, served in the American Expeditionary Force in France during World War One.  Here is a second portion of a letter in 1918 sharing conditions in France in the last days of the war: Well Sister, I’m in the lines again and have been for some time.  I think we will move soon, possibly little further to the front because we are kind of in reserve here although we aren’t so very far from the front. Suits me alright tho because back here we would be an excellent target for the (Germans) if they had a mind to open up their big guns on us.  There has been some of their medium sized shells come our way at different times.  The other night they sent ove3r a few that made us wonder if they really had come with our names marked on them but I guess they must have misspelled them.  I shouldn’t joke that way.  It hurts me when I hear others t...

With the coming harvest season, I am reminded of the practices for preserving food during World War Two.  In 1943, with the war going full blast, every family tried to raise food in their own “victory gardens.”  The produce of these gardens seemed so abundant questions developed on how to best preserve the extra food.  In Elk River a unique program developed to provide canning services to any family in need of the service.  In June 1943, the Elk River newspaper announced the high school acquired a canning unit capable of processing 500 quarts per day.  With the aid of supervisors, anyone needing access to the canning unit might preserve any food grown in their victory gardens.  The unit canned in glass or tin cans.  If the family used tin cans, they would be charged two cents per can. “All are welcome to come in and can,” School Superintendent Robert Handke said.  He anticipated high demand for the unit, he encouraged residents to contact the ...

  The current weather conditions, drought, high heat, and lack or water reminds me of recent research into Sherburne County during the 1930s.   A time of worse weather conditions permeated throughout the county. Farming in Orrock Township after the difficult weather of the 1930s.  Notice the thick layer of sand sitting above the darker soil. In the years 1933 and 1934, the county suffered a major drought.   Farmers remembered the time as a “dust bowl.”   Some residents of Sherburne County remember this time as an end to farming in some areas of the county.   “The light, worn out soils took to the air and drifted like snow over the roads and onto front porches,” is the way historian Herb Murphy described it.   Some folklore of the times described Orrock Township as the “poison ivy capital of the world.”   Other tall tales suggested that “jack rabbits, when passing through Orrock Township, had to pack a lunch because there was nothing to eat.” ...

  Section of a letter written by H. C. Byson to his daughter Dawn with exciting details about POWs sighted in Elk River. Prisoners of War in Minnesota during World War Two often worked the lumber mills and the farms in the northern and central parts of the state.   Although not often seen in Sherburne County, POWs worked the potato harvest in Princeton in 1943, and possibly again in 1944.   At times, residents of Elk River and eastern Sherburne County witnessed these POWs being transported or working the potato fields. The casual sighting of POWs in Elk River, like other small towns in Minnesota, generated a certain amount of excitement witnessed in family letters such as the letter from H. C. Byson to his daughter Dawn Byson (later Moyer), in the summer of 1944.   Byson wrote to his daughter: Bruce came home this morning from downtown with those expressive eyes of his telling us an exciting story.   He and several other people watched German prisoners eat ...

  An interesting collection arrived at the Sherburne History Center in recent weeks.   A wonderful collection of letters from George Bostrom to his family members living here in Sherburne County.   Particularly interesting, the bulk these letters came from France during World War One.   George’s letters document the different training camps and finally his stations “somewhere in France”.   The letters begin in 1918 and continue through 1920.   In letters to his family George documents everything from experiencing bombings at the front, to the price of chocolate.   Also interesting, he provides the exchange rate from American dollars to French francs.   From his letters we know, a 12-ounce chocolate bars cost anywhere from thirty cents to sixty cents. Letterhead from the Knights of Columbus.   George Bostrom used this, as well as letterhead  provided by the YMCA, to write letters home In a letter written the day before the Armistic...

  This week is county fair week.   Give or take a few years, we need to note the 132 years of the annual meeting.   Each year, an opportunity presents itself for county farmers and future farmer to gather and share ideas for improved farming.   This gathering also gives them all an opportunity for bragging rights for their own farming prowess. An early fair exhibit in Meadowvale, circa 1900 So, we need to look back at the first meeting of county farmers at the fairs held in Meadowvale.   Starting in 1889, framers would meet for one day in November with the harvest complete and time to explore new ideas and techniques. Then, starting in 1915, the fair moved into Elk River.   First at a location near the corner of today’s Jackson Street and Highway 10.   Later, the fair site moved to land bordering the Mississippi River.   Finally, in 1957, the fair located to the present site on Joplin Street on the western outskirts of Elk River.   The le...

  With the Fourth of July weekend upon us, local historians inevitably ask: how did we celebrate so many years ago?   Has it always been loud fireworks and excessive drink?   The answer to these questions remains a definitive yes and no.   Depending on the year and the location, the fourth of July celebration in Sherburne County has been both loud and raucous, and other times silent and sedate.   Veteran's Memorial at Sherburne History Center Using newspapers as the source, in the decade of the 1890s, often town baseball remained the highlight of a July Fourth celebration.   The newspapers routinely reported of tournaments pitting Elk River nines against Rogers, Monticello, or other local teams.   With the end of nine innings a watermelon feast marked the culmination of the celebration.   During the decade, livelier celebrations also took place.   In 1893, the newspapers advertised river excursions on the Mississippi River.   The ste...

Occasionally, we recognize veterans and their actions during the wars of the 20 th century.  The actions of Jack Bade, Frances Beck, and Charlie Brown have all been documented on these blog pages.  We need to expand the borders of Sherburne County to acknowledge the bravery of another young man from central Minnesota.   Loading Bombs during WW II In 1943, Malcom H Trombley, from Rogers, served in the United State Army.  As a private, he worked as part of an armament crew.  The crew loaded bombs into planes in the China-Burma-India theatre of World War Two.    The newspapers noted his bravery in service when he rescued his entire loading crew from near disaster.  According to the newspaper reports, a crew member noticed a burning fuse on a bomb as the crew loaded it into a plane.  The entire crew ran for cover, fully expecting to die in coming second.  Trombley bravely removed the fuse from the bomb and threw it in the air just ...

  Just a sampling of advertising ballpoint pens  in the SHC collections This past week we failed to recognize National Ballpoint Pen Day (June 10).   In an effort to rectify this gross oversight, today we note the significance of this significant invention and the impact on local history. Patented in 1888 in Argentina, the ballpoint pen slowly spread throughout the world.   On June 10, 1943, the international patent was filed with the United States Patent Office.   Today the ballpoint pen sells more than 57 pens per second throughout the world.   It is also the most widely used writing instrument in the world.   It’s design simply puts a steel ball at the tip of a tube of ink.   The rolling steel ball regulates the flow of ink for an even application to paper. An ingenious design, the inventors and early marketers overlooked a valuable sidelight of the pen as a marketing tool.   Today, a multitude of pens carry advertising for businesses ...

I just now posted on facebook a photo to commemorate National Donut Day.   Although the day sounds like a frivolous marketing tool for the baking industry, in reality it does have a serious, memorable component.   The celebration began in Chicago in 1938 to honor the members of the Salvation Army, particularly, women that handed out donuts to soldiers during World War One. The Salvation Army also hoped to use the day as a fundraiser to help people in need caused by the crisis of the Depression.   The celebration continues on the first Friday in June.   So, with that in mind, we want to honor NATIONAL DONUT DAY!   Here is a photo of one of the more famous of Sherburne County Bakers: Bake Anderson in his shop in Elk River.  

View of Fox House in its original condition With May being National Historic Preservation Month, it seems appropriate to talk about one of the five National Register sites in Sherburne County.   The most obscure and underappreciated of the sites must be the Herbert Maximillian Fox House.   So, we need to look at this structure to appreciate the impact and influence the site provides.     The original owner and builder of the Fox House remains unknown.   Before Herbert Fox, Ole Martinson purchased an 80-acre parcel along the St Francis River.   He later sold the parcel to Samuel P. Glidden, who in turn sold it to Fox.   With these transactions, the farm site grew to 160 acres.   Sometime before Fox purchased the property, Glidden or Martinson built the house. The house construction makes the site unique.   All of the original slates on the house were vertical, and load bearing.   There remains very little horizontal construction in th...

To commemorate National Poetry Month, we need to recognize the apparent first Minnesota Poet Laureate, Margarette Ball Dickson. Born in Iowa, she earned a B.A. Iowa State Teachers College, an MA from the University of South Dakota.   She also studied for a time at the University of Iowa and the University of Chicago.   She then taught at a variety of different schools before she settled in Staples, Minnesota and founded the Dickson-Haining School of Creative Writing.   She served as editor for a variety of different magazines.   She also cofounded the League of Minnesota Poets.   For her work, in 1938, she received the Rockefeller Center Gold Medal award. In 1934 the Washington, D.C. based Poet Laureate League named her Minnesota Poet Laureate.   She held the title until 1961, just two years before her death.   At times, the title of Minnesota Poet Laureate lacked official state designation.   The Minnesota government refused to pass legislati...

More than a bit of folklore suggests Sinclair Lewis spent some time in Sherburne County, visiting family and, more importantly, writing.   So, we have to sit, contemplate this lore, and consider any impact Lewis may have had on the area.   The first book published by Lewis, under the pseudonym Tom Graham, Hike and the Aeroplane marked the beginning of a significant career.   Part of the folklore maintains that after the publication of his book Main Street he was ostracized.   He never set foot in Sauk Centre again.   However, family members owned property and lived in west Sherburne County.     In addition to Main Street, he went on to publish Babbitt, Elmer Gantry, and a host of other works.   He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1930.   The first writer in the United States to win the award.   Perhaps most insightful, his 1935 publication of It Can’t Happen Here explores events after a fascist wins the Presidential electio...

Although, individually unidentified, the 1921 Elk River Women's Basketball Team included: Rosie Roggatz, Maria Taplin, Esther Cornelius, Althea Gould, Evelyn Bressler, and Agatha McBride   Fifty years before the federal mandate known as Title IX, sports for high school women seemed the norm in areas around Sherburne County.   With the conclusion of Women’s History Month, it seemed appropriate to acknowledge an earlier generation of female athletes competing in the high schools. Referencing the earliest yearbooks available in the collections of the Sherburne History Center, the Elk River High School Women’s Basketball Team stands proud in 1921 and 1922.   Unfortunately, their record seemed less than stellar. In 1921 they posted a 1 and 4 record, and in 1922 their record ended at 2 and 4.   The simple fact that they played remains the important detail.   Not only Elk River, but Buffalo, Princeton, Anoka, and Monticello all organized women’s basketball teams. ...

  During Women’s History Month we recognized several women impacting community and culture in Sherburne County.   We also need to note at least one of the many community organizations, led by women, that worked to impact and improve life in Sherburne County.   The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (the WCTU) remains one of the more important of these groups. 1911 Star News headline reporting vote results on alcohol sales.  Nationally the WCTU organized in 1874 urging abstinence from alcohol.   Beginning in 1878, under the leadership of Francis Willard, the group also advocated for prison reform, labor laws, and suffrage.   Many regarded the group as one of the largest and most influential of reform societies in the United States during the 1800s. In Sherburne County, the WCTU organized late.   In 1895, the Elk River Star News reported meetings at the Elk River Methodist Church.   Not until 1910 did the WCTU formally organize in Becker.  ...

  Conservationist, 4-H advocate, and educator of children and adults; all terms that describe Ella Kringlund in Elk River.   An early promoter of Sherburne County and their natural resources, Ella Kringlund enthusiastically worked to boost conservation.   In the midst of Women’s History Month, it seems appropriate to make record of her life and her mission in Sherburne County. Ella Kringlund is long remembered for her work restoring the land that is today Sand Dunes State Forest.   Her memoirs record her efforts to plant a variety of pine trees in the area.   When her project began in the mid-1940s (and continuing until 1965) each season she organized a tree planting as a 4-H project.   In time, Ella Kringlund and her volunteers planted an estimate seven million trees.   Her efforts proved so successful, a Christmas tree thinning project also developed. By conservation standards in 2000, the trees she planted may not fit the accepted norms.   Ye...

  March being Women’s History Month it seemed appropriate to start off the month noting a significant settler and educator from Sherburne County: Grace Craig.   Grace Craig circa 1940 Born in 1865 in the family homestead in Orrock Township, Grace Craig lived with her parents, two sisters and a brother.   According to a brief biography, Grace Craig lived at the homestead for her entire life.   To a certain degree her education developed through her own initiative.   As a teenager, the biography maintains, she obtained the skills for Sunday School teaching through a correspondence course.   While teaching, for fifty-eight years, at two Sunday Schools around Orrock and Snake River, she also upheld the responsibilities as local superintendent.   In addition to her work on the farm and at the local churches, she also served as the Orrock Township correspondent and reporter for the Elk River Star News.             ...

  Very little to do with Sherburne County History, however, today, 15 January 1919 remains a day to be forever remembered.   In Boston, Mass. on this date, 21 people died in the Great Molasses Flood. Boston fire and police aid in clean-up after the  Molasses Flood in Boston, 1919.  Photo Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection Today, in history, a tank holding over two million gallons of molasses broke open, flooding the nearby streets of Boston.   A wall of sugary liquid, 25 feet high moved down the streets, killing humans and animals in its wake.   Witnesses testified as horses struggled against the molasses, they were slowly sucked down into a slow, strangulating death.   After the wake subsided, a river of molasses, three feet deep worked its way down to the harbor.   After an investigation, faulty construction of the holding tank received the blame for the disaster.   Reports held the tank, when brand new, had...