1900 Rice County Plat Maps

20 Friday Jan 2017

Posted by Stephanie Hess in Agriculture, History Blog, Maps, People

We recently added a copy of the 1900 Rice County plat map book to the Northfield History Collaborative, and I couldn’t be more excited. I love maps!

Outline map of Rice County, 1900. Page 3 of the Plat Book of Rice County, Minnesota.

A plat map shows the divisions of a piece of land in a township, city, and rural areas. It features natural and civic landmarks, like rivers and schools, but it also shows the borders of each piece of land, whether it is a small lot in the village or a large farm in the countryside. And it identifies the name of the owner of the land, as well. This book includes maps of each of the county’s townships, from Bridgewater to Wheeling, as well as its cities and towns – Dundas, Nerstrand, Northfield, and more.

Selection of the plat map of Northfield Township, 1900. Page 13 of the Plat Book of Rice County, Minnesota.

Many of the names of land owners are the same, which makes me wonder if they are all part of the same extended family, or if they came from the same town or village back East (or across the globe). And some owners are clearly women, which for 1900 is an interesting fact – what circumstances allowed them to be listed as a landowner at that time? For those of you who like tracking demographics, especially where people came from, there are some clues in the names as well – you have some clearly Scandinavian-heritage surnames like Engeseth alongside a Germanic Koester and Blau, next to a Keegan and Pritchard and Drentlaw (and even an O’Brien or two).

We also have a 1915 book of plat maps for the county. When you compare the maps, what is the same? What is different?

Outline Map of Rice County, 1915. Page 3 of the Atlas and Farmers’ Directory of Rice County Minnesota 1915.

While maps provide many answers, they also lead to new research questions. We hope you enjoy looking through the townships and villages of our county more than 100 years ago.

For more plat maps from the whole state of Minnesota, visit the State of Minnesota’s Public Land Survey System website, the Michael Fox Map Collection of the Minnesota Historical Society online, and the John R. Borchert Map Library of the University of Minnesota Libraries.

Getting out the vote in 1930s Northfield

08 Tuesday Nov 2016

Posted by Stephanie Hess in History Blog, People, Politics and Government

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Here’s a photo taken in Northfield in the 1930s showing Denny Hamblin and Frank Manz Jr. getting word out on election day in 1930s Northfield.

Vote Today sign on a car, 1930s Northfield

Vote To-day sign on a car. View on the NHC

While many things have changed in Northfield (including when polls close), at least some things remain the same! Vote To-Day!

Fun Finds in the NHC: New Additions to the Collaborative

26 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by Stephanie Hess in Businesses, Christdala, First National Bank, History Blog, James-Younger Bank Raid, Northfield Public Library, People, Religion

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The Collaborative has been busy transcribing, interpreting, and uploading a number of documents in the last few months. We’re excited to share some of these new additions with you!

First National Bank of Northfield collection:

Excerpts from the first minutes book of the First National Bank. This selection includes digitized records relating to the failed James-Younger Gang bank raid of 1876. You can see when the bank directors decided to get a burglar proof safe with a time lock, how much was left in the bank after the raid attempt, and various tributes to Joseph Lee Heywood, the fallen acting cashier/hero of the day. The book also includes cashier G. M. Phillips’s account of receiving the famous telegram, “Bank Robbed. Heywood Killed. Two Robbers Also Killed.”

Telegram to First National Bank cashier G. M. Phillips with news about the bank raid, Sept. 7, 1876.

Northfield Public Library collection:

Souvenir program for the city of Northfield’s centennial in 1955. The booklet includes a brief history of Northfield, information about Northfield’s “pioneer families,” and a program for “The Genesis And Rise Of Northfield,” a dramatic pageant presented by the Northfield Centennial Corporation. The program was presented with compliments of local businesses, whose advertisements also appear inside.

Cover of the Northfield Centennial souvenir program

Views of Northfield book. This book features photographs of various houses of prominent citizens in Northfield, MN as well as photographs of the different churches in town. Houses are labeled according to their owners and churches are also labeled. The book is not dated, but we estimate it is from around 1899.

Page 5 from the Views of Northfield book, including the residences of C. A. Drew, C. W. Blodgett, J. F. Revier, as well as Miss Baker’s Boarding School.

Christdala Church Preservation and Cemetery Association collection:

Various records (mostly in Swedish) documenting the immigration of members of the Christdala Church, as well as some baptism certificates, confirmation certificates, and letters of dismission. The migration forms include information about the birth dates and places of the individuals named, as well as the date they left Sweden. The NHC has identified the names and dates on these documents, but has not translated the Swedish or transcribed them fully – so if you would like to volunteer your skills as a Swedish transcriber, please let us know!

Migration form for Carl Berndtsson and Stina Berndtsdotter, dated April 25, 1882. View on NHC http://contentdm.carleton.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/CCPCA/id/1124/rec/29

Migration form for Carl Berndtsson and Stina Berndtsdotter, dated April 25, 1882. View on NHC to zoom in.

Look for more uploads in the coming months, including a batch of newly-scanned documents from the history of the Congregational Church in our First United Church of Christ collection.

Fun Finds in the NHC: The Boys (and Girls!) of Summer

03 Friday Jun 2016

Posted by Stephanie Hess in Carleton College, History Blog, People, Recreation, St. Olaf College

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baseball

It’s that time of year again, when the Boys of Summer take the field. Since 1887, the people of Northfield have enjoyed playing and watching the game of baseball. And – luckily for us – taking photographs of baseball, too! The NHC has preserved a number of historical images of baseball games and players over the years. Here is a selection of the best ones from the collections of Carleton College, St. Olaf College, and the Northfield Historical Society.

The first baseball game between Carleton and St. Olaf colleges occurred May 14, 1887. Note the buggy and an actual hole dug out of the ground for spectators. View on the NHC

Northfield High School baseball team, 1902

The Northfield High School baseball team of 1902, seated on the school steps. View on the NHC

Baseball game played at St. Olaf College in 1909. View on the NHC

Professors at Carleton formed a baseball team in the 1920s. They called themselves the all-PhD baseball team. Dr. Bird, Dr. Brooks, Dr. Woods, Dr. Wedel, Dr. Gingrich, Dr. Boodin, Dr. Cowling, Dr. Wilson, Dr. Robinson and Dr. Vestling made up the squad. View on the NHC

Carleton College also had an indoor baseball program. Teams played games inside the Sayles-Hill gymnasium, as shown in this photograph from 1921. Looks cramped! View on the NHC

Girls baseball team, Carleton College, 1920s

Don’t forget the ladies! In the 1920s, girls also formed indoor baseball teams at Carleton. Although it seems when the weather was nice, they played outside. View on the NHC You can also see the team posed here .

The NHC has also preserved a number of baseball player portraits from Carleton. Here is an action shot of Herman Woock releasing the ball in 1924. View on the NHC

To see more early baseball photos, follow the links below! Or enter “baseball” into the search term field at http://nrcdighistory.org/ to get more results.

St. Olaf College baseball team, 1888

St. Olaf College team, 1909, with mascot

Carleton College women’s baseball team, 1922

Baseball game, St. Olaf at Carleton, 1926

If you want to see how baseball was played in the early years, come out to the Vintage Baseball Game: Northfield Silver Stars vs. St. Croix Base Ball Club on July 4, 1 p.m., at St. Olaf College (below Old Main Hill), part of the Northfield History Month celebration!

For more information on early baseball in Northfield, read Susan Hvistendahl’s article in the May 2016 Entertainment Guide, starting on page 37 of the actual magazine, and on page 41 of the online viewer. Play Ball!

Fun Finds in the NHC: Haugen Ski Slide

29 Friday Jan 2016

Posted by Stephanie Hess in History Blog, People, Recreation, St. Olaf College

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As a newcomer to the Northfield History Collaborative, I have spent the last few months exploring the wealth of resources available on a variety of Northfield-area stories. It has been fun uncovering stories few people outside Northfield may be aware of. Over the next few months, I’ll be highlighting a few of these finds, starting with St. Olaf College’s Haugen Ski Slide.

Haugen Ski Slide, St. Olaf College, January 15, 1913. St. Olaf College Archives.

More than 100 years ago, St. Olaf College became one of the first U.S. colleges to offer competitive ski jumping with the erection of a 25-foot wooden ski jump in 1911. By 1913, the college constructed a metal scaffold and upgraded their “ski slide,” which was named after Anders Haugen. Haugen, a Norwegian-American, was the 1910 U.S. national ski jumping champion. He was born in Norway but emigrated to Wisconsin with his brother Lars, also a ski jumper. He consulted on the construction of the new jump and conducted an inaugural ski jumping tournament on January 15, 1913 with two other professional ski jumpers, including Lars Haugen, and ten local amateurs.

Ski jumpers at the January 15, 1913 tournament. Anders Haugen is wearing a white sweater with a medal. St. Olaf College Archives.

Anders Haugen was the first ski jumper down the improved “ski slide” at the 1913 tournament. According to the Northfield News, Haugen “set a splendid example for the amateurs taking the jump in graceful style and making a standing jump of about 110 feet” (Jan. 18, 1913). Together with the other two professionals, Haugen judged the amateur jumpers on form and distance based on three jumps each. They awarded first place to T. Overland of the Minneapolis ski club.

Anders Haugen jumping off the ski slide at St. Olaf College, January 15, 1913. St. Olaf College Archives.

The tournament was the first large competition staged locally, with nearly twelve hundred people watching the exhibition of jumping skills. The Northfield News claimed it was a “thorough success, the ‘ski-men’ making some thrilling jumps and at times some equally thrilling rolls down the steep hill” (Jan. 18, 1913). The spectators witnessed Anders Haugen make the longest professional jump of the day: 121 ½ feet. The longest amateur jump, performed by L. A. Hoiby of the St. Olaf ski club, was 109 ½ feet.

Other tournaments were held at the Haugen Ski Slide before it was dismantled in 1961. Local kids remember climbing up and sliding down it – unofficially.

Speaking as a former resident of Thorson Hall at St. Olaf, I can’t imagine going out back and trying my luck jumping off such a slide (it was located at the top of Thorson Hill). Sledding down that hill was treacherous enough!

[Click here to view these photos and others in the St. Olaf College Archives collection on the NHC.]

Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection

Category Archives: People

1900 Rice County Plat Maps

Getting out the vote in 1930s Northfield

Fun Finds in the NHC: New Additions to the Collaborative

Fun Finds in the NHC: The Boys (and Girls!) of Summer

Fun Finds in the NHC: Haugen Ski Slide