Sherburne History Center Blog

Depression era relief programs required unique enforcement skills in 1935.   This became apparent from newspaper reports in the Sherburne County Star News in the spring of that year. In May 1935 the local newspaper urged local farmers and other county residents to report any relief recipients turning down opportunities to work.   “All clients who refuse work when it is offered are to be taken off relief rolls,” the paper reported.   According to the news reports, county residents remaine3d on the relief rolls while supplementing their income with egg and dairy sales.   “relief is being given only as emergency relief,” the paper reminded.   “As soon as a family’s income is larger than their budget, they will be taken off relief.”   WPA construction crew in Handke Stadium circa 1935 In farming communities throughout Minnesota federal investigators found families willing to receive federal relief and farm income at the same time.   “A concer...

Some interesting advertisements in the Sherburne County Star News in 1934 and 1935 give us a sense of life and times in the county:  With the rising standard of living, it would appear the telephone is becoming more of a necessity and less of a luxury in the daily lives of the people of Sherburne County.

Charcoal Print of Joshua Cater, in the collections of the Sherburne History Center The Cater Family served a prominent role in the settlement and development of Sherburne County.   Settling in the area of Haven Township in 1860, Joshua Otis Cater and his descendants contributed significantly to the early history of the county.   Lottie Cater Davis, the granddaughter of Joshua Cater, the daughter of Levi Woodbury Cater, provided an oral history to the Sherburne History Center, remembering some of the early settlement: My dad farmed in a big way—he had over 1,000 acres of land.   We had an older house in Becker, south of here on Highway 10.   I was born in the old house in 1896.   When I was four, my dad wasn’t working and he built that great big house.   We had that house built in 1900 and moved in there.   I can remember when there we ten buildings on that farm, right in the yard. They could buy land for five dollars and acre, but to get ...

After publishing William Greupner’s oral history, a news article the Sherburne County Star News published came to light, providing more details about the business history of Herman Greupner and Greupner Shoes.   The article, published April 5, 1934, provides new insight into the business history of Greupner Shoes, it also gives information regarding the layout of Elk River’s business district. 1894 map of Elk River business district.  Looking closely Greupner's Shoe Store most likely in the bottom edge of the map, along State Street. When Herman Greupner arrived in Elk River, in 1884, he opened his first shop next door to “the Henry Wheaton general store on the north side of the railroad tracks.”   The newspaper reported, in 1885, “W. H. Houlton built a new shop for Mr. Greupner on Princeton Street,” (today Jackson Street) still north of the railroad tracks. “When my business increased,” the paper quoted Mr. Greupner, “making dress shoes for the best people...

Recently we have been exploring county landmarks with the use of oral histories in the collections of the Sherburne History Center.   Greupner Shoes developed into a business institution in Elk River.   Established in the 1880s, and remaining in the city for more than eighty years, the small shop that served Elk River and Sherburne County became a significant icon in the county history.   William Greupner remembers the store and his father: Greupner's Shoe Shop before the 1895 fire From the collections of SHC My dad, Herman Greupner, came to Elk River from Germany in 1883.   He had two sisters and a brother in Germany.   He was in the army over there.   He was in the army for three years.   And then he was in the reserve.   He really shouldn’t have left, I guess, because in the reserve you aren’t supposed to leave the country.   He did anyhow because he thought, he told us so many times, he thought silver dollars were hanging from t...