Rhonda Fochs - Minnesotas Lost Towns

Minnesotas Lost Towns

Northern Edition

Rhonda Fochs

North Star Press of St. Cloud, In.

St. Cloud, Minnesota

Copyright 2014 Rhonda Fochs

All rights reserved.

Print ISBN 978-0-87839-763-2

eBook ISBN: 978-0-87839-988-8

First Edition: May 2014

Published by:

North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.

P.O. Box 451

St. Cloud, Minnesota, 56302

northstarpress.com

Dedication

To my family:

In more ways than I can count,

I thank you for your belief,

your support and your help.

Acknowledgements

Without the assistance, help and support of many, many people and organizations, this book would not have been possible. Early historians, known and unknown, wrote local and family histories left for later generations and are an invaluable record of the times and people of the past. Their memories, letters, oral, and written histories are a treasure-trove of tales, anecdotes, and facts that would be lost without their foresight and their efforts to record them. Without their contributions we would be severely limited in our knowledge of the rich details of the past. It is a great debt, that I, that we, owe to those early historians.

I cant stress enough the importance of local historical societies and museums. These local repositories are true gems right in the midst of our local communities. With limited funds and resources, the staff and volunteers of these organizations preserve our past and ensure our future. I urge you to visit them, support them and perhaps even volunteer. Without them, and the people involved with them, we would be sorely lacking in our historical knowledge and legacy. This book could not have been written without them.

Libraries are another local treasure. Todays libraries provide a wide range of services delivered by knowledgeable and helpful staff. They make locating and accessing research materials a reality.

To those that allowed me the use of their photos, thank you. Your credits are listed by your photos.

Should I have inadvertently omitted anyone, my apologies. Any omission was purely unintentional. Again, thank you.

Aitkin County Historial Society

Aurora Public Library

Banning State Park, MNDNR

Becker County Historical Society

Beltrami County Historical Society

Blackduck History and Art Center

Buena Vista Ski Area and Logging Village

Carlton County Historical Society

Cass County Historical Society

Cass Lake Times

City of Buhl

City of Hibbing, Parks Department

City of Kinney

Clearwater County Historical Society

Cook County Historical Society

Crow Wing County Historical Society

Douglas County Historical Society

Douglas County City Public Works

Ely-Winton Historical Society

Grant County Historical Society

Gilbert Public Library

Great River Regional Library

Hibbing Historical Society

Hibbing Public Library

Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County

History Museum of East Ottertail County

Hoyt Lakes Public Library

Iron Range Historical Society

Iron Range Research Center

Itasca County Historical Society

Kanabec History Center

Kittson County Historical Society

Koochiching County Engineering

Koochiching County Historical Society

Lake County Historical Society

Lakeland Public Television

Lake of the Woods County Historical Society

Lincoln Ladies Aid

Mahnomen County Historical Society

Minnesota Discovery Center

MNLINK Interlibrary Loan

Morrison County Historical Society

National Park Service, Voyageurs National Park

Norman County Historical Society

Northeast Minnesota Historical Center

Ottertail County GIS

Ottertail County Historical Society

Park Rapids Area Library

Pine County Historical Society

Red Lake County Historical Society

Roseau County Historical Society

Sandstone History and Art Center

Schroeder Area Historical Society

Staples Library

Virginia Area Historical Society

Wadena County Historical Society

Cindy Adams

Elizabeth Anderson

Nancy Anselment-Olson

Steve Backstrom

Janie Barthel

Lina Belar

Patty Benson

Kathy Bergan

Dori Betts

Sue Boehland

Glenn Browne

Tom Burke

Terry Burt

Paula Chapman

Audrey Chute

Jim Cordes

Catherine Crawford

Britt Dahl

Amy Degerstrom

Sandy Dennis

Kim Dillon

Sandy Drury

Corinne Dwyer

Seal Dwyer

Tamara Edevold

Andrew Filer

Nicole Foss

Suzan From

Renee Geving

Shirley Gilmore

Agnes Gilson

Diane Gjerstad

Doug Grindall

Heidi Haagenson

Lynda Hall

Shawn Hewitt

Kris Hiller

Marlys Hirst

Ren Holland

Megan Johnsen

Sue Jorgenson

Dan Karilus

Scott Knudson

Joanie Kramer

Connie LaFreniere

Dee Jay Lawrence

Al Lieffort

Bob Lemen

Barbara J. Livdahl

Julie Lueck

Roxanne Lundeen

Rachael Martin

Carrie McHugh

Patricia Maus

Barbara Milkovich

Nicole Miller

Frank J. Mitchell

Heather Monthei

Andrew Munsch

Nancy Nelson

Dale Nikula

Jackie Nurnberger

Allan Olson

Mark Peihl

Ellen Peters

LaVonne Peterson

Nancy Riesgraf

Mel Sando

Honor Schauland

Ann Skoglund

Susan Sowers

Gloria Stone

Margaret Sweet

Mary Theurer

Suzanne Thomas

John Thibert

Amy Troolin

Leo Trunt

Sharon Vogt

Mary Warner

Verne Weiss

Christopher Welter

Special thanks to Marlys Vollegraaf, for her way with words, her support, and her assistance.

Table of Contents

Introduction

M innesota ghost towns are different. They are not the stuff of Hollywood movie sets nor the iconic Wild West images branded into our minds. They dont have the dusty tumble-weed strewn dirt streets lined with weather-beaten buildings. In the Midwest, our ghost towns are more the vanished villages, lost locations, abandoned communities, and relocated town sites variety. I call them lost towns.

In northern Minnesota, with our abundant natural resources, there are a multitude of these places of the past. Generally based on a one-industry/resource economy and the service-oriented support businesses, such as banks, retail, saloons, and brothels, the communities thrived as long as the resources did. Once depleted, the industry owners moved to the next location, the supporting businesses failed, the residents moved on, and the village faded. They left few traces of their existence other than perhaps a wide spot along the highway, a clearing in the landscape, a crumbing foundation or two, decrepit weather-beaten buildings, and sometimes a cemetery and an old building or two.

Ive long had an interest and personal connection to the notion of ghost towns. My grandparents homesteaded in eastern Montana in a town that would fade into history in the 1920s. My aunt owned land upon which a booming early 1900s Wisconsin logging town was located. The town was abandoned after tornado and fire, leaving few remains.

In the 1970s my mother moved to Hackensack, Minnesota and lived in a rustic basement cabin on Little Portage Lake. It was my first extended exposure to northern Minnesota and it took rootI live here full time and love it more each day.

To get to Moms place you headed north out of Hackensack, turned west at the intersection of Highway 371 and Cass County Road 50. Every time we turned at the juncture, Mom would talk of a long-ago town that once sat there. While I had a fleeting fascination, I was young then and hadnt fully developed my love of history. I guess I didnt have enough of my own history to appreciate it as a whole. As years passed, I grew to treasure the past, eventually becoming a history teacher. But back then, I didnt listen as closely as I could have, should have. Not that Mom knew that much about the town, she just knew it used to be there and was intrigued by that fact.