Anoka
This tall brick courthouse was built in 1878 on the corner of Main Street and Third Ave in the city of Anoka. Charlie Sell remembered sitting on the wrought iron fence that circled the building to watch cars cruise up and down Main Street. It was torn down in 1960 for the current Government Center at the same location.
At A Glance
1844: First structure built at the confluence of the Rum and Mississippi Rivers
1853: First identified named as Anoka
1857: Named the county seat
1858: First city charter rejected
1878: Incorporated as city of Anoka
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Anoka Area Chamber of Commerce
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The first dam in Anoka was built in the summer of 1853 along with the towns first saw mill. Demand for lumber was so high, the mill couldn’t produce its own roof until October.
In 1884, a fire swept through downtown city of Anoka. The fire started in an outbuilding next to a local skating rink, and burned 86 buildings. After the fire, builders chose to construct in brick. Many of these buildings still remain on Main street today.
A tornado ripped through the city of Anoka in 1939. In the wake of destruction nine people died, and a further 200 homes and business were damaged or destroyed. The Anoka High School’s mascot “The Tornadoes” is named after this event.
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A view looking across the Rum River bridge towards the fire destruction. Look up at the tops of the buildings along Main St. between 1st and 2nd ave, a hidden-in-plain-sight reminder of the fire.
Anoka has been burned and scorched but also rebuilt from the ashes. In 1884 a fire swept through the town destroying 86 buildings along Main Street. Within the year many of the buildings were already rebuilt. Image: Anoka National Bank (now Pucci) located at the corner of Main St & 2nd Ave.
The Anoka-Champin Bridge: Original steel bridge built in 1884 and the new bridge built in 1929.
Main Street Anoka, 1868.
Courthouse, built in 1878, on the corner of Main St. & 3rd Ave in the city of Anoka.