Sherburne History Center Blog

The folklore regarding the settlement of Elk River and Sherburne County carries with it an image of industrious farmers taming the land and creating a home for their families.   Yet, at least one early resident of Sherburne County arrived to invest in community development, sell his investment and leave for more opportunity.   Ard Godfrey was not a farmer, nor a settler in Sherburne County.   He arrived in the area as an investor and quickly left after his investments returned a profit.   An overview of his life might help explain a new interpretation into the settlement or Elk River and Sherburne County. Early in the 1850’s, probably 1851, Ard Godfrey and James Jameson arrived in Sherburne County, at the convergence of the Elk and Mississippi Rivers.   An experienced millwright from Maine, Godfrey recognized the particular course of the Elk River offered a potential mill site. Godfrey set about obtaining the land and building a mill.   His efforts ...

Although not found in Sherburne County, this photograph illustrates the equipment needed to create moonshine. A news report in the pages of the Sherburne County Star News provides entertainment and also highlights the challenges police faced enforcing the 1920s prohibition laws. The Sherburne County Star News reported in February 1929 of a burglary at the county jail.  “It is not often that anyone cares to break into jail,” the paper wrote.  The cause of the “jail break-in” began several days earlier.  Saturday night, February 9, 1929, Sherburne County police arrested an unidentified bootlegger.  Police caught the man transporting 120 quart bottles of whiskey from Fargo, North Dakota to Minneapolis.  After a weekend in jail, the man pled guilty to bootlegging.  He paid the $240 fine and left the county.  The whiskey remained in the county jail waiting disposal.  Tuesday night, 12 February, an unknown thief broke into the ja...