From its inception, the paper was steadfastly Republican. It published material supporting Republicans in Minnesota and nationwide. The Stillwater Messenger also contained material on local, national, and European news. When the U. He then leased the paper to Augustus B. Easton and Alpheus Beede Stickney. Easton had been employed by the Stillwater Messenger since Stickney was president of the Chicago Great Western Railway and left the paper after only six months.
Easton then operated the paper as manager until October 1, when Van Vorhes returned and assumed his former position. Van Vorhes later became a civic leader in the state of Minnesota, serving in the legislature, and working as a clerk for the Supreme Court.
In Willard S. Whitmore, who had learned typesetting in the Messenger office, purchased the paper from Van Vorhes. Whitmore renamed the paper the Stillwater Republican. It carried that name from March 18, to December 8, Whitmore eventually sold the paper to George K. Shaw, a newspaperman from Minneapolis, and Shaw returned the publication to its former name, the Stillwater Messenger.
He stated that the change back to the original name was in accordance with the "expressed wishes of many of our patrons," and that it had been, "bad policy to change the name to Republican. The paper then went through another succession of owners. Henry Woodruff owned the paper from to He sold it to Victor Carleton Seward and S.
While no longer published today, Sanborn maps are a valuable tool when researching the history of a particular town, area, bulding or even a specific residence. The library owns Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for Stillwater in large format photocopy versions for , , , , , , and microfilm editions for — Digital versions are also available from the Library of Congress.
An article from Family Tree Magazine magazine available at the library offers a how-to guide on using online Sanborn maps for genealogy research. Perhaps not. This is likely a photograph of voting for a local school board election in approximately The woman, fourth from the left, is Georgina Simonson, who lived in Stillwater between amd when she was a proprietor of a grocery store at E.
Poplar Street in Dutchtown. Her presence and the style of clothes suggest a date of approximately when women were allowed to vote in school elections. The average temperature in November in the Twin Cities area was 29 degrees Fahrenheit, historically below average for the month of November. The Northern States Power Company made the most of this cool weather by setting up a stove outside on the corner of Olive and Main Street to demonstrate the heating powers of coke.
On January 10, , the Stillwater Gazette published the photo and asked for further information. Lawrence Kempf of San Diego sent a letter back to the Gazette, which was published on January 17, Following is an excerpt from the letter, explaining the photo:. The stove was set up outside their office building on that corner in order to demonstrate the heating capabilities of coke, a byproduct of their gas plant located further south on Main Street.
Yes, we used coke in our hot air furnace in our home at West Oak Street, Stillwater, for many years. You will note a wind break about waist high behind the men to keep the chill winds off as they enjoyed the warmth of the fire.
I remember that the stove … would get red hot even though the temperature outside was near zero. Due to increasing friction and violence along the border, Army troops were sent into Mexico to pursue violent revolutionaries. This left key unguarded areas. President Wilson called the National Guard into active duty, and troops from across the U.
The large presence of troops deterred the raids, and nine months later the guard was released. Just 11 days later, the First Minnesota was called back to active duty and redesignated to the th Infantry Regiment and assigned to the 34th Division in World War I. A journey through the St.
The Tale of the Blue Light: Joy Powell explored the legend of the haunted blue light in an article published in the Stillwater Gazette on March 5, Powell wrote that around the turn of the century a farmer lived in a house below the old Soo Line Bridge on the Minnesota side of the St. The farmer was reported to have been employed as track checker, using a blue light to warn railroad engineers if track conditions were hazardous. One story featured the old Sabin Mansion. Deserted at the end of the 19th Century due to the declining lumber boom, the house was in a state of neglect and decay.
It became a dare for school children to walk by the abandoned mansion in the moonlight to listen for the sound of the tinkling bell inside. Battle Hollow Hauntings : The homes in the Battle Hollow district of Stillwater have had their share of peculiar sightings.
In a two-part article published in the Stillwater Gazette in October, , writer Dawn Aerts shared the case of year-old Mary Sharpe. In , Mary came down with a mysterious fever and went into a death-like coma. She just as mysteriously awoke from the coma and recovered from the illness. She told family members about the strange apparition that spoke to her and helped her regain consciousness.
Cora Emeny, was shocked when she heard this. It was the name of her brother who had died 15 years earlier — a name and man that Mary would never have known. To learn more about these tales, visit the St. Located near the Osceola Landing on the St.
Croix River, Pest Island was a site used to quarantine immigrants in the s who were ill and suspected of carrying cholera. The mysteries of this forgotten island are explored in a local history research paper written by Kathryn Nordstrom.
Kathryn researched the background of the cholera pandemic and conducted interviews with descendants of Swedish immigrants to piece together the tale of Pest Island. In the s, the world suffered a series of cholera pandemics.
The second pandemic reached the Americas in , with cholera striking in waves several more times over the next thirty years. Evidence suggests that cholera arrived in Minnesota in the s, possibly spreading from immigrant populations traveling up the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers on crowded river boats. From Chicago, they went by steamboat down the Illinois River to St. There they transferred to a steamboat carrying supplies to soldiers at Fort Snelling. Again, they transferred to another boat, went back down the Minnesota River to the Mississippi and then up the St.
Croix River to Taylor Falls. On the St. Croix River, when people died of cholera, the boat captain would pull in near shore and have the dead hastily buried.
In an interview with Kathryn Nordstrom, Roy Strand related a story about the island itself. Croix when he heard that a boat with Swedish immigrants, from the area in Sweden he had come from years before, was on its way to Stillwater with cholera. Those with cholera were taken upriver near Osceola, Wisconsin and put on an island.
Gustav bought groceries, rented a boat, and took food to the island. It was there that he met his future wife. About six people died and were buried on the island.
Their surviving relatives intended to move the bodies at a later time but when they returned to the island, it had disappeared. Although now washed away, a marker at the Osceola Landing memorialized the resting place of these immigrants.
The sign read:. Pest Island Paddlewheelers carried mail, supplies, and fear to the isolated villages along the river. Cholera might be aboard. A hundred years ago, before shifting channels and highway road fill altered the river banks, the peninsula was an island.
Some were apparently buried here. In late , Richard and Walter Kaiser formed the St. Shells were cut and stamped into blanks from locally harvested mussels and from mussels shipped in from other areas. Creek-side overlooks and patches of shady forest along Gateway-Brown's Creek State Trails gatewaybrownscreektrail. The Gasthaus Bavarian Hunter gasthausbavarianhunter. In a 5-mile loop trail will open, sending cyclists to Wisconsin and back, across a new bridge and the historic lift bridge closing to motorized vehicles next year.
This city built on hills holds five long, iconic staircases with San Francisco-like inclines. A 3-mile urban hike challenges visitors to scale all some steps in a day. Stillwater has several independent bed-and-breakfasts, including the Ann Bean Mansion annbeanmansion. One of its five rooms has an oversize copper soaking tub; another has a ladder leading to a tower with scenic views.
Ready to go? Learn more at discoverstillwater.
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