Lost Communities in Pine County, Minnesota, Part 2

Researched and written by LaJune Troolin

Chengwatana Village (Alhambra Village) - Chengwatana Township, Section 26 at the point of were the Snake River leaves Cross Lake - The area around Chengwatana (Alhambra) had been inhabited for many years by an Indian village and later by trappers, traders, etc. The settlement was first platted in 1856 as Alhambra by Elam Greeley, Judd, Walker and Company, and before the ink was dry, a share was bought by Daniel Robertson (Robertson Company). In July 1856 Herman Trott became an agent for Robertson Company, and his first task was to plat a new town and call it Chengwatana. The Alhambra plat was set aside, and the new plat was made larger. In February 1857 Chengwatana became the first county seat for Pine County. The first county commissioners were Herman Trott, George Staples, and Royal Grey. The village had a school, post office (Alhambra 1856-1857; Chengwatana 1857-1873), court house, general store, hotel, blacksmith shop, sawmill, several houses, etc. When the train went through Pine City instead of Chengwatana, Pine City became the new county seat in 1872.

Minnesota Place Names-pages 440-441; Pine County and its Memories-page1; Who's Who in Minnesota 1942-page 1156; A Preliminary Historical and Archaeological Survey of the "Old Chengwatana" Locale, Pine County, Minnesota by Douglas A. Birk

Clint Village - Royalton Township, Section 29 - This area was developed by Swedish immigrants in the late 1890's. The village contained a store, post office (1900-1902), sawmill, school, and cemetery.

Minnesota Place Names-page 441; Pine County and its Memories-page 73

Copper City - Nickerson Township - This village was proposed for the Arrow Line Electric Railroad (Twin City and Lake Superior Railway) about 1907.

Pine County and its Memories-page 263

Danewood Community - Royalton Township, Section 31 - Danish immigrants settled the southwest part of the township in the late 1890's.

Minnesota Place Names-page 441; Pine County and its Memories-page 73

Deer Creek Stage Stop - Barry Township (first called Arthur Township but changed because Kanabec County already had an Arthur Township), Section 9 - Deer Creek Stage Stop was midway between Hinckley and Sandstone on the government road.

Pine County and its Memories-page 197

Eaglehead Community - Wilma Township, Section 7 - The Farmers Land and Cattle Company established an experimental farm called Eaglehead. The new settlers in the area had no farming skills, and they were shown how to plant and farm. At the headquarters, they had a post office (1911-1917) and a confectionery. By 1918 Eaglehead and its farmers had closed down because the soil was no longer rich.

Minnesota Place Names-page 441; Pine County and its Memories-page 261

East Rock Community - Rock Creek Township - The first settlers in East Rock were Yankees, and then the Swedish immigrants arrived a short time later (late 1800's). A Baptist Church was organized on September 12, 1885 in Section 36 and a school in Section 36.

Pine County and its Memories-page 54

Elkton Stage Stop - Windemere Township, Sections 10-11 - The stage stop was on the old government road.

Pine County and its Memories-page 80

Ellson Village - Bremen Township, Section 4 - Ellson started out as a lumbering community in 1895. There was a sawmill, a halfway house that also served as a post office (1904-1925) and a store, a town hall, and a school. The 1918 fire completely destroyed the small village.

Minnesota Place Names-page 441; Pine County and its Memories-page 229

Erie Community - Keene Township, Section 28 - The Erie Community was a farming area with a school, which was organized on September 16, 1915 and closed in 1936.

Pine County and its Memories-page 328

Lost Communities in Pine County, Minnesota, Part 1

Researched and written by LaJune Troolin

Quarry Settlement - Finlayson Township, Section 34-35 - In 1892 the Water Power Sandstone Company began operating in the quarries by Hells Gate. That same year St. Paul & Duluth Railroad put a spur in from Miller (Groningen) to the quarry, and between 300 and 500 men were employed at the quarry. A boarding house was located near the quarry for the employees. At the time of the 1894 fire, the boarding house was not burnt, and the Sandstone survivors were able to walk there for help after their town was destroyed.

Banning Village - Finlayson Township, Section 34 - In 1896 Martin Ring bought property near the Water Power Sandstone Company and persuaded the St. Paul & Duluth Railroad to extend the tracks of the spur 1/3 mile to where he started quarry operations. He platted the village above the quarry and named it Banning after W. L. Banning, who was a past president for the St. Paul & Duluth Railroad.

The village had close to 300 people. There were two hotels, a general store, saloon, school, post office (1896-1912), boarding houses, etc. By 1905 the quarry work was finished. The Barber Asphalt Company, who had started operating a few years before, continued to operate and give employment. The asphalt company closed in 1912 and of the Banning population only four families were left.

Brochure Banning Park; Pine County, Minnesota, Minnesota Place Names-page 439; Pine County and its Memories-page 107

Beldon Village - Beldon Township, Section 1 - The village of Beldon was established in 1912 when the Soo Line Railroad began operating through that area and was incorporated in 1921. The village received its name from Grace Beldon, a lady who worked in the Tri-state land office in Minneapolis. Beldon was primarily a lumbering and pulpwood town. It had a general store, post office (1913-1943), depot, blacksmith shop, school, etc. The little village was auctioned off in November 1943.

Minnesota Place Names-page 440; Pine County and its Memories-page 314

Big Spring Camp (Fox's Logging Camp) - Hinckley Township, then Sandstone Township, section 15 - It was one of the largest logging camps in the area and was still operating after the 1894 fire.

Pine County and its Memories-page 148

Blomskog Community (Swedish meaning "blooming forest") - Windemere Township, Section 10 - The Blomskog church was established on July 13, 1897, by a Swedish Lutheran Congregation. It was named after their parish in Värmland, Sweden. The church closed on October 27, 1968. The Blomskog cemetery is in Section 8.

Minnesota Place Names-page 440; Pine County and its Memories-page 83

Browns Hill Community - Mission Creek Township, Sections 33-34 and Pokegama Township Sections 3-4 - This may have been an early site of Beroun.

Minnesota Place Names-page 440

Name that Pine County Place #4 Answer

As this picture shows, Sandstone's Vogue Theater was extensively remodeled in 1936. Owners Guy and Dorothy Thorne added air-conditioning, sloped floors, and a smoking room.

Name that Pine County Place #4

Where in Pine County was this picture taken?  Look for the answer in a few days!

Pine County Townships

This information comes from the 1940 edition of “Who’s Who in Minnesota.”

Alphabetical list of Townships with date of organization, first Board of Supervisors, Clerk and Treasurer, in the order named.

Arlone – May 29, 1911; D Westman, C. B. Brown, John M. Sundean, Ben Brown.

Arna – March 26, 1910; P. M. Croucher, Bernard Chelmo, Geo. Hollas, J. H. Franklin, C. A. Bjork.

Barry – Oct. 18, 1901; A. O Rosedahl, Chm; S. W. Anderson, Clk.

Beldan – July 30, 1921; E. T. Hogan, Grover Hanold, Geo. Donley, Geo. Rash, Stephen Costello.

Birch Creek – Aug. 1, 1896; H. W. Bodholdt, Chm; J. C. Swenson, Clk.

Bremen – Jan. 20, 1906; Herman Thrun. Chm; Jacob Sonmor, Clk.

Bruno – May 28, 1903; Albert Wharton, Chm; Hans Nelson, Clk.

Brook Park – April 30, 1894; M. L. Seymore, Chm; W. H. Thompson, Clk.

Chengwatana – March 2, 1874; Duane Porter, F. Blamk, Reason Denman, Ely Hull, Henry Brandes.

Clover – Aug. 1, 1911; C. O Morgan, Chm; C. A. Schmidt, Clk.

Crosby – Aug. 1, 1908; J. E. Crosby, N. Hellamd, G. Beaver, G. Millhause.

Danforth – April 2, 1904; J. H. Friesendahl, Chm; W. J. Wheeler, Clk.

Dell Grove – Nov. 14, 1895; Erick Troolin, Chm; Harry Olson, Clk.

Dosey – June 7, 1909; C. G. Chase, Chm; Mark Chase, Clk.

Finlayson – Nov. 14, 1895; James McDonald, Chm; C. W. Harris, Clk.

Fleming – May 25, 1907; Ed. J. Rodenberg, Chm; M. Bird, Clk.

Hinckley – Est. 1872, Org’d Mar. 2, 1874; Record lost in forest fire of 1895.

Kerrick – Nov. 14, 1895; Peter Norell, Jr., Chm; Andrew Gillberg, Clk.

Keene – May 22, 1920; C. L. Busby, Charlie Johnson, L. L. Wheeler, C. O. Ables, W. D. Smith.

Kettle River – March 2, 1874; A. L. Griggs, William Curry, T. O’Neil, G. Moorhead.

Munch – Oct. 21, 1905; F. J. Keene, Chm; A. L. Freeman, Clk.

Mission Creed – April 2, 1880; M. Thomas, E. Johnson, T. McEwen, E. J. Leard; A. Wilson.

Nickerson – Sept. 21, 1907; O. G. Wahlquist, Chm; D. Champagne, Clk, J. D. Johnson, Tr.

Norman – April 3, 1906; O. F. Forsythe, Chm, Gust Overbecke, Clk.

Park – Sept. 25, 1922; Nels Berg, Frank Mack, Chas. Kunz, Edwin I. Scott, Adolph Larson.

Ogema – Sept. 21, 1915; H. B. Lyon, Chm; S. O. Pike, Clk, H. D. Black, Tr.

Partridge – Jan. 26, 1901; Louis Lindstrom, Chm; Hugh McKenzie, Clk.

Pine City – March 27, 1874; H. Bracket, H. B. Hoffman, James Griffith, H. Robei, Clk.

Pokegama – Jan. 25, 1896; John C. Nordstrom, Chm; T. A. Bartlett, Clk.

Pine Lake – Nov. 14, 1895; H. G. Tyler, Chm; Geo. Beck, Clk.

Rock Creek – May 14, 1874; Officers not given.

Royalton – March 17, 1880; Officers not given.

Sandstone – Nov. 14, 1895; Charles Haisler, Chm; J. S. Hay, Clk.

Sturgeon Lake – Oct. 23, 1897; Andrew Novak, Chm; A. Nygren, Clk.

Wilma – Nov. 5, 1907; John Ludwig, T. M. Croucher, J. Franklin, Clk.

Windemere – Jan. 21, 1882; J. A. Majgren, Chm; L. Lyden, Clk.

The following townships were dissolved on the date given: Belden, Jan. 8, 1936; Keene, May 25, 1938; Dosey, April 2, 1941.

Name that Pine County Place #3 Answer

This office on Askov's main street was home to the Askov American newspaper founded in 1914 by Hjalmar Petersen. The women on the right were typesetters who arranged letters and words in trays to form mirror images of newspaper pages. Other workers inked the trays and ran them through a press to create copies of each edition.

Name that Pine County Place #3

Where in Pine County was this busy office located?  (Watch for the answer next week!)