Rounding out the alphabet
County Auditor's office, Anoka County Courthouse, interior 1925-26. Arthur Caswell in center. (Object ID 2059.1.18)
As we entered the second installment of quarantine thanks to the COVID-19 virus, the Anoka County Historical Society also tackled the second half of the alphabet in our #MNMuseumAlphabet challenge. Joining other historical societies across the state, ACHS has posted daily, in alphabetical order, an item from our collection.
We resume at letter “M,” which we dragged through the mud, so to speak. In a telling photo of shared experiences, the driver of an early-model truck needed some help from friends and their horses to get back on the road. Our friends on social media also came to the rescue by suggesting the truck could be a 1924 Model T.
For the letter “N” we featured Northway shopping center of Lexington. Several people tried their hand at identifying the three people posing, which reminds us to wag our finger and admonish you to label all the photos for your family!
We couldn’t resist “O” for office, since we had some great pictures from the inside of some Anoka County departments taken about 1926. Our biggest takeaway? The auditor’s office had some extremely dubious wiring of their lighting. In fact, we loved this image so much, a few days later we turned it into a digital puzzle you can find at AnokaCountyHistory.org.
For “P” we headed back outside to the world of agriculture, where the potato reigned for many years in the sandy soil of early Anoka County. A starch factory in St. Francis, warehouse in Bethel and Anoka’s Corn and Potato Palace proved Anoka County was the “Land of the Minnesota Early Potato.”
In the quiet of quaint home offices where quarrels are hopefully few, we quarantine together … just kidding. We chose “Q” for quilt as ACHS has an extensive collection of these beauties, now all rolled up and photographed to perfection thanks to one of our preservation projects. Our favorite now? A quilt Catherine Grimshaw began in the 1840s that she and her suitor (later, husband) John didn’t finish until 1859. It earned first prize three years running at the Minnesota Territorial and then Minnesota State Fair and measures 102 inches by 100 inches. For the full story, visit our blog.
The Rum River appeared for “R” (we sneaked in some dams for good measure) and settled on sisters for “S,” which proved a universal connection of conflicting emotions. A perennial favorite, “T” for tornado brought out a storm of memories for both the 1939 and 1965 events. Much like this epidemic, people recognized that #HistoryHappensToday, documented the aftermath and submitted them to ACHS for preservation.
As we rounded the corner on “U,” it occurred to us that selecting just one uniform would make us sad. Therefore, we began the day with W. J. Miller, chief engineer, wearing an impressive hat as part of his Anoka Fire Department uniform on Jan. 28, 1882, continued with Logan Grant Sr. in about 1905 wearing his Linwood baseball uniform, then Wendell Ledine in his WWII uniform.
We couldn’t forget our favorite nurse in uniform, Theresa Erickson, and gave a thankful nod to our modern-day stars on the front line. Erickson served as a public health nurse in Anoka County, at Anoka High School, as well as during the Span-Am War, in the Philippines, and in WWI.
The Giddings family vegetable plot and their giant … we weren’t sure what … started the “V” conversation, followed by Norman and Bessie Jackson’s wedding (she could fit in the same dress 50 years later!). We struggled with “X” but discovered a railroad crossing image from 1970 that fit the bill. Why we would do anything other than yearlings for the next letter is beyond us, and for “Z”? Well, lacking a good picture of zebras, we opted for Zion, as some lovely construction pictures exist of the Zion Lutheran Church, founded in 1870, located on Fourth Avenue North (and later Fourth Avenue South) in Anoka.
What’s next for our social media stunts? Tune in to find out!
Rebecca Ebnet-Desens is the executive director of the Anoka County Historical Society.