Pine County Promotional Booklet – Part 8

The following text and advertisement about Duquette come from the 1926 promotional booklet entitled Pine County: Where Folks are Homeowners.

Duquette

Duquette, situated on the banks of the upper Willow river and the Great Northern railway, is the natural central point in a section where dairy farming is the main industry.

Not so very many years ago the principal source of income of the settlers, and about the only commodities shipped out, was cord wood, ties, posts, pulp wood and other forest products.

Today by far the greatest income is from butterfat, and the most valuable export is Land O' Lakes butter. Potatoes, eggs, and live stock are also being shipped out in ever increasing quantities.

Some 35 or 40 years ago, at the time the Great Northern railway, or as it was then known, the Eastern Minnesota railway, was built through this section, Frank Duquette, a French-Canadian woodsman, came here and built a small saw mill and established a small general store and saloon, and operated on a small scale for a number of years. A number of French-Canadian families settled here with him, who worked in the woods during the winter and in the saw mill during the summer. The large logging operators however soon had the valuable pine timber cut and the small operators were soon left with small lots of less valuable timber, and our old friend Duquette soon quit and the people who came with him began to drift elsewhere. In the meantime, however, some homesteaders had settled in the vicinity and some of the cut-over land was offered cheap and a number of other settlers came in.

In 1903 Frank Duquette sold his store and some of his land to Anderson & Co. who put in a stock of merchandise more suitable for a farming community and furnished a market for whatever commodities the settlers had to sell. In 1905 the firm was reorganized and incorporated under the firm name of Anderson Erickson Co., and from that time till now this firm has taken a leading part in helping to build up this section of the country. A post office was established and a townsite surveyed and named Duquette, in honor of the fine old gentleman who first started business here.

It is not so much of a town as towns go, a depot, a general store, a lumber yard, a harness and shoe repairing shop, blacksmith shop, a potato warehouse, a fine farmers' co-operative creamery, privately owned, but leased and operated by the Farmers' Co-Operative Creamery Association, and where they make Land O' Lakes butter, a modern, up-to-date school house (consolidated school), one of the finest in the state for the size of the district, and last, but not least, the community hall, built and owned by the Duquette Community Association, a co-operative stock company. The hall is a monument to the public spirit of the community and an object of pride to its people.

The Oak Lake Farmers' Co-Operative Telephone Company, another co-operative institution, furnishes telephone service among the farmers and with the rest of the world through its connection with the North Western telephone system at Moose Lake. Good roads, good water and a soil that will produce in abundance any crop suitable to this climate. Right now, when so large a section of Minnesota and other states are threatened with less than half crops, the crops here, with the exception of hay in some places, are above normal. But of all the great and valuable assets of this community, the greatest and the most valuable is the honesty, integrity, industry and public spirit of the many good men and women of the community, as fine and true a lot of people as there are to be found anywhere. Lots of room and a hearty welcome to a lot more of the same kind.

Pine County Promotional Booklet – Part 7

The following text and advertisements about Denham come from the 1926 promotional booklet entitled Pine County: Where Folks are Homeowners.

Denham

Denham is located on the Soo Line in the extreme northwest corner of Pine county, in the midst of a productive dairy and agricultural community, 55 miles from Duluth and Superior, 120 miles from the Twin Cities.

Not so many years ago this country was the home of the Red Men, who found it a veritable paradise, as the woods, lakes and streams abounded in berries, game and fish. The first settlers tell stories of adventures with these Indians, and in many places relics are still found.

The first white men to settle here literally hewed their homes out of the forest. They blazed trails and carried their supplies for many miles. Many as these hardships were, they make light of them and never forget to tell of the neighborliness of the other settlers, and all were willing to do their part for any one in need of help.

Gradually the woods were cut down, stumps removed, ground cultivated, and each succeeding year showed great progress; schools and churches were built, roads improved and general living conditions made more comfortable and pleasant.

Great progress has been made in the past few years, particularly so since the Soo Line came into operation in this locality. In 1921 a co-operative creamery association was organized, which, with capable management, has proven to meet with the best of success, and today we have ideal conditions for the carrying on of the dairy industry. This is a great inducement to those who desire a new location for establishing a permanent home. More than 300 families make up the settlement of the community, consisting principally of Scandinavians, Bohemian and Polish nationalities.

PROSPERITY FOLLOWS THE DAIRY COW

Pine County Promotional Booklet – Part 6

The following text and advertisements about Cloverton come from the 1926 promotional booklet entitled Pine County: Where Folks are Homeowners.

C.C.C.

The above initials are symbolic of the Cloverton Community Club. They are also the beginning of “Courage, Confidence, and Contentment”; “Clover, Cows, and Chickens.”

It was with courage that the Cloverton Community Club was organized. The courageous ones, like the pioneers, had confidence in the possibilities of this territory. They considered it worthy of improvement and of development, and time will tell their judgment was well founded. It is still with courage and an increased confidence that the people of this community are shoulder to shoulder, making this community the best place on earth in which to live; not for the present only, but for the future. And in living every human being looks forward to the condition in life known as contentment – contentment which consists of enough wealth to make life comfortable – fine farms and homes, a good school to educate the children, and a good church. All this with the end in view that we may live harmoniously and at peace with our fellow men. The combination of the above should result in happiness. Courage to tackle the difficult; confidence to overcome obstacles, and contentment in having reached nearer the goal.

“Clover, Cows, and Chickens.” This community is especially adapted for these, clover grows everywhere – from roadsides to meadows. Cows are grazing contentedly in green, fertile pastures abundant with forage. The farmer is satisfied that his cow should be contented, for is it not because of her that he chuckles over his large monthly cream check? Alfalfa, too, is becoming a rival of clover for the cow's contentment. And in addition, there is the busy little hen. Chickens in many instances buy the groceries for the home giving the cream check an opportunity to go into the bank. Plenty feed for the cows, larger cream checks, and a healthy flock of chickens are the stepping stones toward the goal of contentment.

In the center of this community is CLOVERTON fortunately situated on a strip of the most productive soil in the state. It is in eastern Pine county on the Soo line between the Twin Ports and the Twin Cities, both great markets. Cloverton has two stores, meat market, barber shop, two restaurants, garage, Standard Oil Co. station, a bank, two church denominations – Lutheran and Presbyterian, rural route, local and long distance telephone service, electric lights, I.O.O.F. and M.W.A. lodges, a concert band, a tri-county shipping association. It has a school, grade and high, that is the apple of the community eye. The building, being all modern, is the most beautiful in the county.

C.C.C. invites you to visit us, learn to know us, and to live with us. We want more ambitious families who want to live where life is enjoyable through the building up of a better community. In a similar manner that “Prosperity Follows the Dairy Cow”, so does contentment follow the Cs – “Clover, Cows, and Chickens.”

Thus it is easy to remember this community by the Cs – Cloverton, clover, cows, cream checks, chickens, courage, confidence, and contentment.

The above is but a part of this community. For further information write CCC.C. All inquires will be cheerfully answered.

Pine County Promotional Booklet – Part 5

The following text, picture, and advertisements about Bruno come from the 1926 promotional booklet entitled Pine County: Where Folks are Homeowners.

Bruno

The village of Bruno has a population of 300, is located in Pine county on the Great Northern main line between St. Paul and Duluth, 50 miles south of Duluth and 100 miles north of Minneapolis.

The village was incorporated in 1903 and originally was a lumbering and saw mill town. The lumberjack was gradually replaced by the pioneer farmer who converted the cut-over lands into productive farms. Today Bruno is the center of a prosperous farming community with a farmers' co-operative produce and creamery association, operating an up-to-date creamery, manufacturing the celebrated Land O' Lakes butter. In addition to this the village has one bank, two garages, three general stores, hotel, restaurant and confectionery, lumber yard, pool and barber shop, feed store and two produce warehouses, shoe shop, meat shop, and pickle plant. A modern brick school building, teaching grades, manual training, domestic science and four years of high school. Presbyterian, Lutheran, Catholic, and Advent churches, and what is quite important to prospective settlers, we have clear and pure water, clay loam soil, rich in vegetable and mineral elements, very fertile and productive, we have the best of roads radiating out of Bruno in all directions. This is a natural dairy section in the heart of the now famous “Big Red Clover Belt”. We welcome new settlers and there is yet much unimproved land that can be bought at a low price.

     One of Bruno's Prosperous Farms 

Pine County Promotional Booklet – Part 4

The following text and advertisements about Brook Park come from the 1926 promotional booklet entitled Pine County: Where Folks are Homeowners.

Brook Park

Brook Park, Pine county, is a village of about 200 population, located on the Great Northern Railway, midway between the Twin Cities and the head of the lakes, two of the best markets in the world. We are also located on Trunk Highway No. 23, about 6 miles west of No. 1, and about 10 miles east of No. 5, Trunk Highway No. 23 running from a point on No. 1 south of Hinckley, through Brook Park, Mora, Milaca, St. Cloud to Paynesville, Minn., thereby giving us very good connections and good roads to all points.

We have a farmers' co-operative creamery, making Land O' Lakes butter of the very best quality. Two large potato warehouses, a pickle salting station, three general stores, a bank, flour and feed store, a confectionery store, and several other lines of business, two churches, a high school, Odd Fellow and Woodman lodges. The population is mostly mixed.

The land in this locality is all what is known as cut over land, at one time covered with a growth of pine, all of which was cut off several years ago. Most of the unimproved land is now covered with a small growth of poplar and brush, easy to clear, giving the owner plenty of fuel. The land, when cleared, will produce all kinds of crops that do well. Potatoes, grain and grasses are some of the best; clover is also known as a weed, the clover seed business being one of the best paying of any with but little work to harvest the crop, as most of it comes without seeding. Potatoes also do well. All buyers of potatoes who handle the crop here always speak well for the kind the land produces; two to three hundred bushels to the acre is a common occurrence and some varieties in peat even do better. Grain is also a sure crop. Oats run as high as 50 to 60 bushels to the acre, and early varieties of corn will mature, giving the dairyman plenty of feed for the stock.

The farming country in and around is well taken care of by rural mail routes, there being three out of this office daily, leading in every direction. Rural telephone lines extend to all parts, and practically every farm has a telephone. Roads leading out of town are all in good condition.

If you are considering a new location and want to be near good markets, with fine railway service and good highways, look up this section of the state.

Pine County Promotional Booklet – Part 3

The following text and advertisements about Beroun come from the 1926 promotional booklet entitled Pine County: Where Folks are Homeowners.

Beroun

A prosperous village of 200 population, midway between Pine City and Hinckley on the Northern Pacific railway and Highway No. 1, the center of a very productive farming community, devoted to dairying, poultry raising, and general farming.

Beroun has four general stores, meat market, lumber yard, blacksmith shop, two garages, two hotels, two fireproof potato warehouses, pickle packing plant, brick co-operative creamery, Catholic and Methodist churches, new brick school, and bank.

The Beroun territory is settled largely by Bohemian farmers who have demonstrated their ability to transform a cut-over country into a prosperous farming community. Dairying is the basic industry as evidenced by the success of the local co-operative creamery association, large dairy barns, silos, and numerous fields of alfalfa.

This territory was originally covered with hardwood timber, some fine stands of which remain, has a very productive clay loam soil and some peat lands which with modern farming methods are being made to produce abundantly. Prices of improved farm lands vary from $35 to $100 per acre, depending upon improvements and location.

Beroun ships on an average of a car of live stock a week, over $100,000 worth of butter a year, 50 to 90 cars of potatoes a year, has one of the M.A. Gedney Co.'s most successful pickle producing stations and ships a large amount of poultry products and clover seed.

Potato raising contributes no mean measure of the success attained by several of our farmers, some fields having returned as much as $400 per acre last season, and offers a means of securing large returns from a small acreage in favorable season.

This section has never known a crop failure and offers to the man of moderate means an opportunity of securing a productive farm home, near to market, good schools and healthful climate.

Pine County Promotional Booklet – Part 2

The 1926 promotional booklet on Pine County included feature stories, advertisements, and sometimes pictures for each of the county's towns. The section about Askov follows. 

Askov

About 20 years ago a group of Danes started this colony in order to attract that class of Danes who valued the spiritual inheritance of their mother country highly, and who wanted to find a place where all the good and valuable ideas as to this life, and life beyond, might be preserved and propagated in their children.

The land was, in reality, a worthless waste covered with stumps, stones, and brush. It had been robbed of its wealth by the great lumber companies. Fire had swept over it and consumed everything left by the lumberman. Several times it was tried to colonize it, but without success. The settlers would not stick. The few that did stay were living in Indian style in small log huts, daubed with clay to keep out the cold and wind. Each hut was surrounded by a small clearing of an acre or so, where a little garden truck was raised; otherwise the settler spent his time hunting, fishing, and attending town meetings.

The colonizers were successful in attracting a large number of land-seekers and home-builders and sales went fast in spite of the physical aspects of the country. Mr. L.C. Pedersen, the leading spirit, was so full of the future possibilities of the country, which he painted in words so alluring that everyone who came in contact with him seemed to be inspired.

Time went on and things progressed. The country lost its wild appearance. The village grew; a public school was built, outgrown, added to, and rebuilt in succession; a church was erected, a pastor called; co-operative associations were formed; a creamery started; all things went well until this day, and now we have a smiling, prosperous community, dotted with beautiful, well kept farm homes in which dwell happy, contented men and women surrounded by romping, roundfaced, gay children. Instead of the stumps, stones, and brush the fertile fields are covered with crops of all kinds, and in the pastures among the scented clover dairy cows, thoroughbreds, are grazing or sunning themselves.

The town is a thriving village, newly built and newly painted, containing school and church and all kinds of up-to-date stores and the largest and best equipped printshop in the county, where job work running well over $25,000 was turned out the past year.

We have created a spot here in Pine county, Minnesota, which now and in times to come is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to the state and to society in general. We have worked hard to gather our own people here, not in order to segregate them from America and American ideals, but in order to have a place where all the good we have brought with us from the mother country may thrive and bear fruit, and where we may in some degree, inculcate some of these ideals into our friends who came from other lands to found homes in America. We are a large community, but wish to double our number; acres upon acres lying around are idle and need a tiller, so if you are in search of a home, visit Askov and see its possibilities; then you may decide to dwell among us.