An Interesting Bit of Boosterism in Elk Rive
“One trouble with Elk River,” exclaimed one of our citizens, “is that we are too quiet, we don’t blow enough about the town and its advantages.” The Sherburne County Star News published this comment on 12 September 1895. It served to introduce a number of columns promoting the value of land and living in Elk River. The publication in the pages of the local newspaper is an interesting bit of boosterism. The articles something akin to “preaching to the choir.” Although, the newspaper will reach areas outside of Elk River, the bulk of the membership already knows about the “value of land” in the area. Yet, the paper goes on to promote Elk River land and living: “Many of our business men are possessing themselves of small tracts of land convenient to town, as they are offered for sale,” the paper reported. “This does not mean, necessarily, that they contemplate abandoning the business they are engaged in and go to farming for a living, b...