From our President…

Dennis Berg

I am often asked what the Anoka County Historical Society does, and what surprises me is the paradigm that we record history from the past and it has to predate our lifetime. In reality what you did today, if recorded, is history. It’s true that we collect and preserve the history of Anoka County. However, collection is only possible if someone recognized the value of recording it while the information was available.

As an example, in 2002 the Anoka County Board of Commissioners recognized that Anoka County had, in a short period of time, lost 60% of its family farms. With a goal of preserving the history of agriculture in Anoka

County, the county board and the Anoka County Extension service funded the historical society for a two-year project that compiled and published the history of agriculture in Anoka County from 1900 to 2003. Agriculture at one time was the lifeblood of Anoka County. Today, for the most part, it is history. If we would not have recorded it when we still had some family farms to interview and photograph, that history would be lost.

ACHS stands ready to preserve your history, individual, family, business or non-profit. We can help with the recording, but we need you to come in and share your information with us.