Browse all items in the Three Links Care Center collection
ABOUT THREE LINKS
Three Links, originally known as the Minnesota Odd Fellows Home, has a long history of caring for the young and old in Northfield. The concept began in the early 1800s, when the Odd Fellows committee selected the 120 acres known as the Nutting Farm to establish a home for widows and orphans. Northfield seemed a perfect place for them to realize their visions, as it had two colleges, a respected school system and was on a rail line. The Home for the widows and orphans of the Odd Fellows Fraternal Lodge opened in 1899. Today, the mission has expanded to care for all those who seek the services of Three Links.
COLLECTIONS
Three Links historical materials consist of various photographs of the original Odd Fellows Home buildings, newspaper clippings, meeting records, and scrapbooks. There are also a number of books included outlining the rituals and ceremonies of the lodges, as well as rules and regulations for Odd Fellows homes. The collection also houses many objects relating to the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs such as ceremonial dress pieces, ribbons, and pins.
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CONTACT
Three Links Care Center is located at 815 Forest Avenue. Contact Three Links at (507) 664 8800, or visit www.threelinks.org.
Is there a record of orphans or abandoned children who may have lived at this facility between 1905 and 1915?
There is not an official log – that we know of – but we do have a scrapbook with information about the children who lived there. See page 46 of the scrapbook for information on the first child to move into the home in 1901, and then more who came after him: http://cdm17227.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/ThreeLinks/id/507