What is a typical day like at the Anoka County History Center? It’s not all working with artifacts, and definitely not quiet. Follow along with ACHS Volunteer Coordinator, Sara Given, for her first audio diary of everything that happened around the museum on Wednesday, March 13, 2024 - well, at least everything that happened until lunch time.
Host Rebecca Desens, ACHS Director and Sara Given, ACHS Volunteer Coordinator.
Read MoreListen to Burton Dupre's stories as he remembers growing up in Centerville in the 1920s and 30s and the farm chores and shenanigans he and his friends got up to (including when they were arrested by the Anoka Game Warden for fishing without a license.) Burton also shares his time in the service during WWII as a medic at an English hospital, and then bartender for the Company Bar in Germany.
Stories taken from his collection of short stories, “Sincerely, Burton” printed in 2001 and read by ACHS volunteer Brian Boldt.
Host Rebecca Desens, ACHS Director and Sara Given, ACHS Volunteer Coordinator.
Read MoreThe name “Lino Lakes” is unique and, according to the United States Geological Service, only one community by that name exists—the one located in Anoka County, Minnesota.
Unusual names most often have unusual origins and this story begins at a meeting in a small room in Tim Manning’s barber shop in 1955. The community, then called Centerville Township, would begin its life as a newly incorporated village and needed a name.
Read MoreACHS goes on the road to create a new rotating display for area residents in Centerville. Both the City and ACHS welcome submissions for future exhibit content.
Read MorePreviously, we looked at the story of the Weber family, who emigrated from Austria-Hungary in the 1860s and settled down to farm near Centerville. Their farm, started by Joseph Weber and his wife Annie, was passed down to their son Leonard and his wife Mary, and then to their son Donald.
Read MoreLast week we began a three-part series about the Weber Family Collection at ACHS. This week, we’ll look at some more records that are part of that collection.
The Weber farm was handed down through three generations of the family. Some of the legal documents that trace these ownership transfers tell us another interesting story as well: How did older people plan for retirement in the years before nursing homes and assisted living facilities became common?
Read MoreCollections of records from a single family are generally referred to in the preservation world as “family papers.” Family papers would include many actual pieces of paper (correspondence, household or business records, legal documents, etc.) but can also include photographs and, sometimes, three-dimensional artifacts as well. One such collection at the Anoka County Historical Society is one for the Weber family of the Centerville area.
Read More
