Sherburne History Center Blog

Fishing holds a rich and extended history in Sherburne County.   The first resort in the county, Brown’s Hotel, in 1855 advertised Big Lake as a premier fishing spot. In the last 165 years, fishing remains an important sport and pastime in the county.   Stories abound of landing that great catch, that trophy fish.   Yet, a detail of the sport, not often discussed, concerns the creation of that most personal of items, the fishing outfit.    Walter Gohman, in his memoirs, writes of the fishing kit he devised with hard work and a little creativity.   “I made a fishing outfit by selecting a very special willow pole,” he wrote.   “I skinned the bark from this pole and treated it with oil.   I found a wooden fish line spool and fastened this the side of the pole.   I made a crank handle with a bolt and used screw eyes to guide the line.”   Gohman went on to swear by the effectiveness of his outfit.   “We caught many fish of all ...

With the current discussions of disease and quarantine, the condition of schools and student attendance, I am encouraged to look back in the history of Sherburne County and explore the development of schools in the area.   It quickly becomes obvious; education played an important role in early Sherburne County.   Elk River school, circa 1900   As early as 1869, Elk River witnessed construction of a brick school, with multiple classrooms.   This was not simply the one-room schoolhouse similar to those scattered around the county.   This was a true school with several teachers and separate classes for students based on grade level.   In 1876, the County Commission set aside specific township sections to benefit education in Sherburne County. The idea originates with federal law, mandating sections of land be set aside for education, the actions of the commission, however, reinforce the importance of teaching county children. In 1883, e...

A recent photograph published on the internet, generated a variety of questions regarding the location and history of Meadow Vale.   We will make an effort to provide more details about life in the area known as Meadow Vale, possibly fill in some details about the community   Meadow Vale was originally a farming community located in the north west corner of Elk River township.   For individuals looking at a map, consider section 6 of township 33, range 26, with some overlap into section 31, township 34, range 26.   Meadow Vale Schoolhouse Perhaps the most common photograph associated with the community continues to be the image of District 28 schoolhouse (references vary, some research refers to the school as District 18).   The school, along with the nearby church, served as the community centers for Meadow Vale.   Still later, the local Grange Hall also acted as a community gathering place.    Memories of the community, written...

Orrock Creamery circa 1900 Notice the multitude of milk cans in each wagon,  waiting to do business with the Creamery With the closing of June as National Dairy Month, it seemed appropriate to recognize the importance of the dairy industry and the creameries to Sherburne County.   For decades in the late 1800s and early 1900s, farmers recognized Central Minnesota as a significant producer of dairy.   As late as the 1980s, the region was recognized as the “golden buckle of the dairy belt.”   In the middle of this region, Sherburne County creameries offered quality milk, butter and cheese.   The multitude of milk producers and their distributors in Sherburne County need to be recognized for their impact on the local economy and history.   From the Elk River Creamery, and its related Twin Cities Milk Producers Association, to the Orrock Creamery and Becker Creamery, they all served a significant role in the agriculture history of the county. Ad...

Meeting in the basement of the Big Lake Municipal Liquor Store, September 3, 1941, a group of men and women living in Sherburne County came together and organized the Sherburne County Conservation Club.   For the next forty-one years they met to develop and discuss plans for very necessary projects, to aid conservation in Sherburne County.   Because of drought, over-farming and several natural disasters, land in Sherburne County in the 1930s rapidly deteriorated.   Zimmerman was known as the poison ivy capitol of the world.   Sandstorms were so common, “there were days when Highway 10 was closed,” club member Art Nelson remembered.   An early project for the club called for tree plantings to develop wind breaks and stop the soil erosion.   Over the years, the club estimates millions of trees were planted in Sherburne County as part of the Conservation Club program.  Construction of a cement dam on Mud Lake, circa 1955, by the Sherbu...

Recent research at the Sherburne History Center disclosed a copy of memoirs, describing the work of early settlement on farmland in the county. Written by Vernon Bailey, it provides interesting insight in the multitude of tasks needed to ready a farmstead for occupation.  Between other work during the winter, Father and Charles cut and hewed the logs and timber for the new house, hauled them together in the snow.   When spring came, the foundations of the house were laid, the walls were rapidly built up of great logs, fitted tight together and hewed smooth on the inner surface.   The roof was framed of dry tamarack rafters, wide roof boards, and good pine shingles.   A cellar for vegetables was dug under the house after the roof was on but later an outside bank cellar was constructed in the side hill at one corner of the house where milk and meat and vegetables and fruit could be kept cool in the summer and from freezing in winter.   When the house neare...

Strawberries and west Sherburne County seemed synonymous for a number of years.   At the highpoint, the Becker Strawberry Days Festival solidified the connection.   The lesser known memoirs of Sherburne County residents remain equally important to connecting the local strawberry crop and the county.   A brief paragraph in the published memories of Walter Gohman bear out this important connection: I remember vividly a strawberry feed.   There was a strawberry patch that went the full length of the garden.   The Gohman farm had some of the most fertile soil in Minnesota and the strawberry patch produced a large crop of luscious berries.   A big strawberry feed was in order.   In the morning when they separated the milk, a large pitcher of cream was saved.   The pitcher or cream was placed on ice in the ice house.   A long table was set up by placing planks on saw horses in from of the long porch.   We were each given a bowl and told to p...