Sandstone
Midway between the Twin Cities and the Twin Ports is Sandstone, a village of 1,200 population, located on the Great Northern Railway and the paved Highway No. 1, in the land of clover, cows and contentment.
Sandstone's atmosphere, like its climate, is very agreeable. It is one of friendliness and cheer. Its people are cordial. Its living conditions are equal to those of any modern, progressive community.
Sandstone has pleasant surroundings with facilities to care for mind and body.
It contains United-Congregational, Norwegian Lutheran, Swedish Mission, Catholic, and Dutch Reform churches. Services are held by Trinity Lutheran and Episcopal denominations as well.
Sandstone has a modern consolidated grade and high school with normal training and agricultural departments. It has an efficient corps of teachers. Its school building is commodious and built of sandstone.
It has a hospital operated by two physicians and surgeons. It has also a dentist.
A library containing 1,800 volumes is housed in the village hall to serve the community.
The Masons have a $25,000 temple, the I.O.O.F. have a fine lodge building and the Modern Woodmen of America have an organization here. Several other clubs are also active.
The village owns and operates its water system, has municipal sewer system, and is supplied with electricity by the Minnesota Power & Light Company, which has a power dam on the Kettle river just below the village.
Sandstone has a substantial high class motion picture theater, a weekly newspaper, two up-to-date hotels, two popular restaurants, besides many other business establishments.
Sandstone is the home of Pine county's oldest bank, and its first national bank. The combined resources of these two as of June 30, 1926 totals over half a million dollars.
The Kettle river borders the east side of the village and affords some extraordinarily picturesque scenery along its banks ranging from fifty to one hundred and fifty feet in height. (The kind people “travel hundreds of miles to see”.) Several lakes nearby afford excellent fishing and are fine recreation centers. Over 100,000 fish were planted in the lakes and streams surrounding Sandstone this year.
Community spirit is high in Sandstone, is responsible for a strong community club, an annual fair, a village band, and a base ball team.
The farming territory is but partially developed and many acres still await the hand of the plowman. As Dan Wallace, editor of “The Farmer”, said at a recent farmers' club meeting in this locality: “The surface has just been scratched”. The last few years have shown remarkable growth but in the near future much greater strides are sure to be made.
Dairying is the chief concern of Sandstone farmers because of the wonderful clover, alfalfa and other legumes grown in this vicinity. Timothy is easily grown, and wild hay abounds on practically every farm. Corn is grown for fodder and silage. Guernsey and Holstein cattle predominate, and many fine grade herds are being built up.
A fine spirit of co-operation exists among the farmers, and the fruit of this is shown by the fact that most of them belong to the Sandstone Farmers' Co-operative Creamery Association, the Eastern Minnesota Egg and Poultry Producers Association, and are now joining the recently formed Co-operative Feed Shipping Association.
The Sandstone Farmers' Co-operative Creamery Association has 250 patrons and owns a $7,000 creamery. At the last annual meeting it was voted to build a new creamery, and provisions made to raise money, since the business has greatly outgrown the present plant. Last year this association did a business of nearly $150,000 and paid the farmers $140,788.64. In 1922, it made 128,000 pounds butter; in 1925, 345,000, a remarkable growth.
Small grain, fruit and vegetable crops play an important part in the farmers' diversified crop system. Rye, oats and barley are the most important grain crops, and these with the forage crops are used locally to a great extent.
Potatoes, rutabagas, and cucumbers are in the front rank in quality and quantity produced. Approximately $10,000 a year is paid the farmers for pickling cucumbers by companies in Sandstone.
The growing of small fruits is still in its infancy and very excellent strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, apples and plums are produced. The climate is well adapted to the cultivation of fruits, and proximity to the “Twins” will accelerate its growth.
The poultry industry and the production of honey are two other profitable lines which are being developed. The raising of poultry goes hand in hand with dairying and is advancing rapidly. One Sandstone farm which specializes in poultry raising now has nearly 2,000 chickens, and a 12,000 incubator. This is an example of what may be done with poultry around Sandstone. Honey production is natural where clover abounds and farmers find it profitable here.
Sandstone got its name from the rock deposit which is located in the village.
The Kettle river sandstone is used for mill blocks, sawed stone, building stone, curbing, paving blocks, and crushed rock for paving and highway building.
The William Penn Stone Company has a $100,000 plant for cutting and working stone here. This is one of the largest of its kind in the United States and is equipped with the latest stone working machinery. Much of the work has to be done by hand and about 40 men are employed the year round. The yearly pay roll amounts to about $75,000.
Among the more important buildings in which Kettle river sandstone is used are the Great Northern Station and the million dollar Baker building, Minneapolis, the library of the University of Illinois and the Spokane Club of Spokane, Washington.
Sandstone is a division point on the Great Northern railway. All trains stop here, including the six passenger trains running between Duluth and St. Paul. The passenger train running to St. Paul via Princeton starts each morning from Sandstone, excepting Sundays.
Sandstone is an important Great Northern town.
A visit to the beautiful Kettle river at Sandstone or the Sandstone quarries and stone cutting plant is extremely interesting and well worth while. Make us a visit, and you will want to live in Sandstone.
If you are looking forward to independence and want a good farm home, buy here for good value and low price.
No comments:
Post a Comment