Sherburne History Center Blog

Citizens may celebrate the birthday of Sherburne County, 163 years strong, on Monday 25 February.   Looking back on the original promotion and emigrant recruitment for the county reveals a very proud group of settlers.    The Saint Paul Pioneer Press newspaper published an unsigned letter from an early settler of Sherburne County.   Pierre Bottineau's cabin, one of the first structures built in Sherburne County. In later years the cabin abutted the  Riverside Hotel “At Elk River Station,” an 1868 letter writer suggested, “prosperity is at this time manifest.   A steam saw mill with the usual attachments for furnishing building material, is being built and will soon be in operation.   A new school house to cost two thousand dollars, is to be erected the present season.”   The letter went on to describe a “people free from all bigotry and have no great partiality for any particular sect.”   The residents of Sherburne County suppor...

Recently we published information concerning Elk River men stationed at Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941.   We noted the newspaper’s lack of information about Charles Nogle, reportedly stationed at Guam, possibly captured or killed.   New information, with help from Nogle’s descendant Sandra Koppendrayer, allows us to provide an update:   Actually stationed at Ewa Field, near Pearl Harbor, Marine Air Corps mechanic Charles Nogle witnessed and survived the attack on Hawaii.   A 1989 newspaper article published Nogle reminiscences about the day.   “At the time of the attack, I was a crew member on a DC-5 that out on the field.   We had two of them, and on December 7, one of the was in the overhaul hanger at Ford Island,” he said.   “Ironically, it was the only hanger building on Ford Island that was not hit, and that old bird never got a scratch on it.” Nogle explained at the time of the attack he was caught wearing nothing but a towel, preparing...

A recent facebook post from the Stearns County History Center noted a variety of explanations for round barn architecture.   Although I am not too thoughtful, the article caused me to wonder the different why’s of barn construction.   Why are they round?   Why paint a barn red, or white?   What are the motives of a house barn?   According to the Stearns County post, folklore suggested round barns were built so the devil could not hide in the corners.   More practically, round barns better withstood high winds, tornadoes, and other natural disasters.   In the end, technology eroded the popularity of round barns.   Loading silos and feeding cattle in a round barn proved more difficult than using a rectangular barn.   And, the expense of construction also discouraged the unique architecture of a round barn.   Round barn located on the Perry Garner farm, near Elk River, circa 1916 Economics also determined the color of a bar...