Sherburne History Center Blog

  In reviewing the history of Sherburne County, significant attention is given to the agriculture industry, or to transportation, specifically the railroads. An area of the economy in Sherburne County that receives very little attention, an area that warrants greater attention, is the hospitality industry. From the beginning of the county to today, hotels and hospitality played a significant role in the county.   Starting with Brown’s Hotel in Big Lake and continuing with the Riverside House and the Blanchett Hotel in Elk River.   Also, we need to note the inn at Bailey Station in the 1870s.   All of these establishments played a significant role in the economic history of Sherburne County.               Brown’s Hotel in Big Lake marks the beginning of hospitality industry.   Before the county was created, Joseph Brown advertised in the Sauk Rapids newspaper, promoting Big Lake as a stopping off point...

  With the end of the 2020 elections, an interesting letter in the archival collections of the Sherburne History Center warrants some discussion. As background information, the 19 th amendment granting women the right to vote in national elections passed in August 1920.   Prior to the approval of the 19 th Amendment, in Minnesota, women voted in some local elections.   Of particular interest, women voted in elections concerning local school boards.   This makes sense when we realize a responsibility of all women concerned the education of children.   This belief extends back into the 1800s. In a letter sent to concerned citizens of Clear Lake, Sherburne County, Assistant Attorney General Montreville J. Brown reaffirmed the right of women to vote in local school board issues.   His only caveat to this voting right being that women must be residents of the district in question and “they are of the age twenty-one years and upward and possess the qualific...

  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...

Electricity in Sherburne County generates a variety of unique stories about living and growing up in the county.   Providing electricity to the entire county stretched, in time, for over forty years.   Electrical power first arrived in Elk River in 1917.   In other areas, isolated farms, in the county, electricity came available in the 1950s.   Stories of electricity and the times before electrical power provide a unique perspective on life in Sherburne County.   The edited oral history of Angela Goenner. of Clear Lake, is one of these unique stories.   Born in Nebraksa, Angela (Eikmeier) Goenner found her way to Minnesota as a child.   Her parents operated a general store in Stearns County before moving to Sherburne County.   Angela married Ernest Goenner in 1933.   She lived on the family farm, in Clear lake, until her death in 2001.   She remembers her family getting electricity in 1948. I can remember a lot about what it wa...

Fire became a greater concern for Sherburne county, as the residents entered the 1900s.   As more and more fires destroyed more and more property, the communities responded to this growing challenge.   In the west part of the county, Clear Lake and Becker both acquired equipment and trained volunteers to move beyond the basic bucket brigade of earlier times.   Clear lake seemed to lead the way in organizing a fire department and acquiring equipment.   Becker learned from the example set in Clear Lake and used the lessons to improve its own system of firefighting. The flaming destruction of the depot of the Great Northern Railway inspired Clear Lake to move into action and acquire firefighting equipment.   In March 1898, one year before the village of Clear Lake was incorporated, a call for volunteers resulted in the creation of a significant firefighting force.   Shortly afterwards, the community purchased a two-man fire cart.   Using soda and ac...

Discussing Sherburne County History, the Brown Hotel, in Big lake, is often mentioned as an outstanding example of fine food and hospitality.   In Elk River, the Blanchett Hotel and the Riverside Inn maintained reputations as hotels serving delicious food and cordial surroundings.   Yet, an equally auspicious, but overlooked, hostelry entertained and housed visitors in Clear Lake for 47 years.   The Clear Lake House, an inn offering hospitality to travelers and long-term guests, anchored a section of the Clear Lake business district near the railroad depot.   The history of the inn on the west side of the county warrants attention. Clear Lake House, circa 1900 Built in 1880 by C. W. Potter, the hotel replaced a railway eatery that had burned down a year earlier.   The hotel offered a restaurant for railroad passengers and train crews.   It also provided travelers a brief respite from long rail journeys through Minnesota.   Potter ran the hote...

Yet, another follow-up detail from the pages of the Sherburne County Star News .   Recent research noted a depression era program offering mattresses to farm families in the county.   A program offering low income families an opportunity to “make your own mattresses.” Although this image originates from the mattress program  in New Orleans, it provides an understanding of the entire mattress making process.  Photo courtesy of the National Archives In a follow-up article from 1941, the newspaper reported families requested and made 470 pieces of bedding in Sherburne County during the first six months of the year.   Operating out of Bowles' Garage in Zimmerman and the Clear Lake Town Hall, the program provided quite a few families with mattresses in this brief aid experiment.   Under the direction of Mrs. Charles Hetrick in Zimmerman and Mrs. John Leitha in Clear Lake, the Sherburne County Extension Office taught families how to make the ma...

The development of Sherburne County and the political divisions are common questions.  When were specific townships created?  How was the county originally divided?  The Minnesota Territorial Legislature created Sherburne County from the southern lands of Benton County in 1856.  This legislation designated Humboldt (later renamed Big Lake) as the county seat.  Special elections chose Elijah Cutter, John Stevenson, and Ephraim Nickerson the first County Commissioners.  The newly created county was divided into three assessment districts.  The county Commissioner, two years later, created the original five townships of Sherburne County.  On September 13, 1858, Baldwin, Big Lake, Clear Lake, Elk River, and Briggs Townships came into being.  Briggs Township was later renamed Palmer.  Although this map is dated 1874, a significant error on this township map is the omission of Blue Hill, created in 1868 yet not designated on this she...

The 1920s proved a challenging decade for Sherburne County.   The period seemed particularly tough in the community of Clear Lake.   Coupling crime and economic challenges presented significant difficulties.   The tenacity of business owners and residents kept the village moving forward.   Examples, such as the history of Frank Hankemeyer and his general merchandise store reveal the resolve of character in the local residents.   Despite the challenges of the decade, the persistence of men and women like Frank Hankemeyer reinforce the character of the community.   T he county newspaper, the Sherburne County Star News, suggest the 1920s a crime riddled era for Clear Lake. The news regularly reported businesses burglarized and hold-ups in the small town.   Thieves burglarized the local creamery.   In broad daylight, bandits robbed Joseph LeBlanc’s general store at gun point.   The newspaper regularly reported thefts of livestock and burg...

Sheriff Chester J. Goenner served in office from 1952 to 1981 Photo from the SHC collections 1990.201.220              Every so often we write of an individual significant to the history of Sherburne County.  Another name to add to the list of movers and shakers in Sherburne Ccounty is Sheriff Chet Goenner--ed. note.   “History will record that Sheriff Goenner solved all of the murders and bank robberies during his years in office.” The quote from the Sherburne County Star News, summarized the career of Sherburne County’s long serving sheriff. Chester Goenner served as County Sheriff from 1952 until 1981.  In the time, he earned a reputation of commanding respect and using all of his resources to get the job done. Goenner was first appointed to the position of County Sheriff in 1952, after the death of Nial Nuemann.  Before that appointment, he served as the county deputy sheriff for 18 years.  Prior to that ...

The drama of crime reveals itself in the pages of the Sherburne County Star News .  Reporters tell the stories of victims and perpetrators.  They also reveal the patterns of crime and use language to generate greater interest in the events.  As an example, in 1903 the newspaper noted crime is seasonal in Sherburne County, “parallel with the influx of the tramp a hobo fraternity.”    The crime reporting also generates creative writing from newspaper correspondents.  In a burglary in Haven Township in August of 1903, “two men, on a tall and ugly looking genius, and a shorter companion with a dark mustache” burglarized a home.  They ransacked a home, “to show how thorough and accomplished there in the work they cut open and ripped every mattress in every bed in the house.”   Less than two weeks later, “bold burglars” used explosives to rob the Clear Lake bank.  “Sheriff Ward has gone up to do some sleuth work.”  The string ...

I received this challenging question several times while discussing post World War Two Sherburne County.  Answering the question is important because Highway 10 provides perspective on events around the county.  The Highway also remains an emotional scar on the psyche of Sherburne County. The direct answer about construction of Highway 10:  the project began in 1929 and expanded in 1952.  At first glance the road seemed a great gift, connecting two major cities with small Sherburne County towns.  Yet, expansion in 1950 caused major upset.  Charles Babcock promoted Highway 10 during his tenure as Highway Commissioner.  The two lane highway through Sherburne County opened in 1929.  Some of the road was paved, other sections were dirt or gravel.  It stretched from Anoka through Sherburne County to North Dakota.   The greatest impact to Sherburne County and the road came in 1950.  The Highway Department announced the wideni...