Sherburne History Center Blog

View of Fox House in its original condition With May being National Historic Preservation Month, it seems appropriate to talk about one of the five National Register sites in Sherburne County.   The most obscure and underappreciated of the sites must be the Herbert Maximillian Fox House.   So, we need to look at this structure to appreciate the impact and influence the site provides.     The original owner and builder of the Fox House remains unknown.   Before Herbert Fox, Ole Martinson purchased an 80-acre parcel along the St Francis River.   He later sold the parcel to Samuel P. Glidden, who in turn sold it to Fox.   With these transactions, the farm site grew to 160 acres.   Sometime before Fox purchased the property, Glidden or Martinson built the house. The house construction makes the site unique.   All of the original slates on the house were vertical, and load bearing.   There remains very little horizontal construction in th...

The Sherburne County Star News published an article on 30 January 1913 illustrating the challenges faced by Elk River in efforts to avoid and combat fire.  The newspaper reported the village council voted to purchase 250 additional feet of fire hose to enhance the “ancient and leaky hose” used by the city fire fighters.  The council and newspaper acknowledged the purchase fell short of needs.  The expense of 75 cents per foot for the hose limited the purchase.  “It is believed that some of the old hose can be used with the new,” the paper reported.  “At the last fire, it will be remembered, so much difficulty was experienced in coupling the old host together and preventing leaks that the fire nearly burned itself out before any water was turned on.”     Previous discussions concerning fire protection included: building a centralized fire station and training to maintain and use the available equipment.  The fire of 1915 pushed t...