Sherburne History Center Blog

  A new exhibit on the Sherburne History Center web page explores postcards and their popularity as a means of communication.   An equally interesting development in Sherburne County history is the adoption and use of the telephone.   Beginning in the early 1890s and continuing through the 1920s several small telephone companies organized in Sherburne County to offer this unique method of communication.   Delving into the early history of companies such as the Meadowvale Rural Telephone Company and the Haven Telephone Company, and the efforts of anonymous companies in Elk River provide an interesting appreciation of a rising telephone technology in the county.   Drawing of candlestick style telephone common in 1900 As early as 1893, the opportunity to reach out to friends in distant communities arrived in Elk River.   The Elk River Star News reported a telephone company installed a “hello line” at the Merchant Hotel.   A telephone at the hotel allowe...

  Labor shortages, in World War Two the phrase commonly referred to necessary work in the factories and armament industry.   Often associated with Rosie the Riveter, the phrase suggested a shortage of workers to man the factories and build necessary war machines.   Yet, the phrase carried a tragic and not often considered meaning in Sherburne County.   Although the federal government exempted most farm workers from the draft and created programs to provide more farm workers, the area around Sherburne County witnessed a severe shortage of labor during the war years of 1943 to 1945.   These labor shortages in farming caused more than a few farm failures and forced auctions.             With the opening months of 1943, a new phase of the war developed.   The conclusion of the North Africa campaign signaled success for allied troops.   Plans for invasion of Italy continued.   And the offensive a...

  A few weeks ago, I wrote of artists from Minnesota.   I failed to mention perhaps the most significant artist in Minnesota history: Charles Monroe Schulz, (1922-2000).   A master illustrator and creator of the widely read and enjoyed comic strip of all time: Peanuts .   Schulz, born in Minneapolis, lived in the twin cities for nearly forty years.   The exceptions to this, was during his service in World War Two and a brief time spent in Colorado Springs, Colo. Ripley’s Believe it or Not published his first original illustration.   A 1937 drawing featuring the family dog, a hunting dog that ate unusual household items such as pins and tacks.   This illustration he signed as “Sparky” a family nickname for the young Schulz. Seventy years ago, October 2, 1950, seven newspapers published the first Peanuts comic strip.   The syndicated comic grew to the point 2600 newspapers in 75 countries carried the daily antics of the Peanuts gang.   ...