Sherburne History Center Blog

  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...

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. ...

Paddy wagon in front of St. Cloud Reformatory, circa 1920 Improved roads and new automobiles delivered an unwanted result to Sherburne County in the 1920s.  Crime flourished in the area.  Perhaps the high point of the 1920s county crime spree occurred in 1927.  That year, a bandit gang of five men terrorized communities on the outskirts of Minneapolis.  Led by Frank “Slim” Gibson, the crew included Jack and Lester Northrup, and Ralph and Lester Barge.  In a crime spree expanding beyond Sherburne County, all the way to North Dakota, the men robbed banks and burglarized businesses.  The intrepid police work of Sherburne County officers led to their capture and prison sentences.  Beginning in 1926, the outlaw crew robbed merchants and banks throughout central Minnesota and North Dakota.  In November 1926 the gang robbed the bank in Wheelock, North Dakota.  Frank Gibson murdered bank cashier H. H. Peterson.  Continuing into 1927...