Hatfield City

Hatfield City

On the Milwaukee railroad, seven miles southeast of Pipestone, is Hatfield, a village containing a postoffice, one or two stores, a school and a church. It is in the exact center of section 3-5, Grange township. The village was one of the first established in the county, and it has a history extending over a period of nearly thirty-two years.

'"Hatfield i.^: the name of a new station seven miles east of here that has .iust been laid out by the railroad compan\-." - Pipestone County Star. December 5. 1879.

-Hatfield, as it was in the spring of ISSn. was described bv the Rock County Herald in its issue of .'Sipril 2.S: "One swallow does not make a summer, but one windmill, it appears, is enouprli to make a town. .\t least, that is the case on the Southern Minnesota about midwa>' between Pipestone and Edgerton. The place road was being constructed through Pipestone county. The place came by its name rpiite by accident. It is said that the grading crew at work in tlie vicinity of the propo.sed st.ition encountered unusually windy weather during its stay there. One member of the partv, having been se\eral times obliged to pursue his hat into the adjoining fields, was seized with an inspiration, and, perhaps to per- [letuate the memory of the incident, announced that for want of a better name Hatfield would suffice for the new station.

The beginnings of a town were made in 1880. the first improvement being a windmill.- \ side track was laid late in August, and the initial building improvement followed soon after. The Colman Lumber company established a lumber yard, and a grain warehouse was put up by Bonner & Hyde, who bought grain that fall. In November n store building graced the site, erected by I. N. Converse, who started a general store. Soon after the postoffice was established with Mr. Converse as postmaster.^ has been christened Hatfield, and. although its onl.v semblance to a town is the rather metropolitan aspect of its windmill aforesaid, there are vast possibilities susceptible of development, .and we see no reason why it shouldn't become a great commercial center."

In tlie years that liave elapsed since Hatfield was given a place on the map, the village has only slightly outgrown its original proportions. The townsite, made to consist of thirteen hlocks, was surveyed November 6, 1882, by George B. Woodworth. Three years later, on December -S. 1885, the plat was dedicated by Samuel H. Graves, acting for the land firm of Close Bros. & Co. In 18S.T Close Bros. & Co. threatened to establish lipadquarters at Hatfield, instead nf at Pipestone, but this did not eventuate, the people of Pipestone granting certain concessions demanded by the land company.

A school house was built in Hatfield in 1882. William D. Peek at an early date bought out the one general store aid was for many years iis proprietor. The Milwaukee company erected a serviceable depot in October, 1885, and installed ]\Ir. Perrigo as agent. Several attempts to force a boom in the little hamlet have proved ineffectual. During the years of heavy immigration to the county in tlie early nineties the village became a place of some little importance as a receiving point for the new settlers' effects and as a lumber nmrket. Close Bros. & Co. transferred the townsite to William Lockwood in December, 1808. and through the energy of the new proprietor there was a small increase in the village. A new store building was put up and there were several other building improvements. .\ Methodist chnrch was erected at a cost of $15no and was dedicated October 2fi. 1902.

On several occa.«ions Hatfield has experienced loss by fire. On the night of August 14, 1908, the store building of L. J. Clayton, occupied also by the postoffice. was totally destroyed, bringing a loss of over $.3000. The Milwaukee depot was reduced to ashes on Simdav. July 31. 1010. For a time there was danger of a more extensive conflagration by the spread of the flying embers from the burning building, but this was avoided through the efforts of the fire fighters.

On the Jine of the Great Northern railroad, between Pipestone and Jasper, on section 9. Eden township, is Thlen. a little hamlet of prosperous appearance. As a grain market it is excelled by few of the more pretentious county towns. There are three elevators, several well-stocked stores, a bank, shops, a good school and a Norwegian Lutheran church. For its size the town i.s a lively business center and derives its support from a favored farming region.

The founding of Ihlen came to pass as the result of the building of the Willmar & Sioux Falls railroad through Pipestone county in 1888, and was one of four stations that were located by this agency witliin the county. The townsite promoters, early in Mav, 1888, arranged with Carl Ihlen. of Eden township, to plant a town on his land, which was named in his honor. Soon after, on July .3. the plat was surveyed by Alfred S. Tee. the county surveyor, niul on the last day of the same month it was dedicated by W. II. Sherman, of the firm of Moore & Sherman. Tlie jilat was divided into eight blocks. Streets runnin.s; north and south were named 'Mabel, Jessica. Holman and Judd, and those intersecting. Bertha. Sherman and Waldo. In August raili-oad graders laid out depot grounds and built ,n side track.

Ihlen was slow in developing, and its growth into the substantial little community of today is. an event of the past dozen years. A postoffice was established in :\Iarch, 18S9, at the home of Carl

Ilileii.^ A gpiipral store was establisliprl in June, 1892, by John Olson, of Iowa, wlio placed N. H. Braham in charge. Two years later there was further increase in the business enterprises. Albert Olson opened a hardware store in March, 1894, and operated it a. little more than a year. Toresdahl & Ware engaged in the general merchandise business in November, 1894, of which E. R. Larson was the manager, riilen has been the home of a banking institution since November. 1904. The institution was promoted by representative men of the town and vicinity with L. L. Dale as prime mover and was opened for business with the following officers: Joseph Evenson. president; Chris Bauman. vice president : Tj. Tj. Dale, cashier. Two years later the controlling interest, wdiich was held by Mr. Dale, was sold to M. C. Duea. who took the active management. The Bank of Iblen, which before had been a private institution, was organized , as the State Bank of Ihlen May 2, 1908. -The capital stock of $10,000 was .subscribed largely by residents of Ihlen and the surrounding country. The incorporators were M. C. Duea, R. IT. O'Connell. E. W. Davies, R. (t. Ijarson and Tj. L. Dale. The present officers and directors are R. IT. O'Connell, president: R. Q. Larson, vice president; Lillie O'Couuell. assistant cashier ; S. B. Duea and William F. Eikmeier.

Cazenovia is a little village boasting two mercantile establishments, hardware store, lumber yard, three elevators, a number of resdences and a school house. While never achieving the proportions of any of the iiicorfioratcd towns of the county, it has

*Tn 1890 the Ihlen postnffice was riisoontinued. or rather, was moved to a nearby farm and named I^arson. in honor of the Ctheni postmaster. Later it was returned to the original location and rechristened Ihlen. An incomplete iist of Ihlen's nostmasters is as follows: Albert Olson, E. R. Larson, Joseph Evanson and Lewis Wilson, the present incumbent.

]U'osporpd in its own sphere. It is a station on the Ellsworth-Watertown branch of the Rock Island railroad and is located on the northwest quarter of .section 21, Troy township, very close to the center of the precinct.

Troy township was settled in an early day, and during the early eighties there was a big immigration to the precinct. The settlers in the southern and eastern portion found a convenient market in Pipestone, but those in the other portions of the township were a long distance from market and badly in :ieed of just such a little trading center a.« Cazenovia later afforded. With the building of the Burlington railroad in 1884 came the promise of a station and a town.^ The railroad authorities early selected the site for a station, which was named Cazenovia, after the town of the same name in Madison county, New York.' Before the close of the year 1884 a few buildings had been put np at the new station - the start of a new Pipestone county town. Early in the fall Ezra Rice, the Luverne grain dealer, erected a grain warehouse, which was opened for business November 28. The same month a side track was laid at the new station, and in November a depot was erected bv the railroad company.

For a yeni- there was little added to the town, but in the fall of 188.5 come the erection of several buildings and the establishment of a few business enterprises. A large cleaning house and steam power elevator was erected in October by Kelsey & Gooding, of Watertown, Dakota, and later in the same month the town's first store building was completed. The pioneer merchants were Rank & Cates. The

'-"The people of Troy expect a station out that way on the Bnrline:ton road, and if they do not have a lively little village thereabouts before many years we shall be much surprised." - Pipestone County Star. June 27, 1884.

"Man,\' of the farmers in the vicinit\' had originall,\' come from Madison county. New York, and it was at their suggestion that the station was named Cazenovia.

postoffice was established in October with Maurice 0. Rank as postmaster.^ Before the close of the year a town hall and a few residences had been erected.

The fjrowth of C'azenovia has not been great, and a qnai'ter century of life has brought it to a point where it was originally intended it should be - a railroad station, grain market and little trading center. A town plat was surveyed in May, 1902. S. B. Howe was the surveyor and the work was done for William Kru.se. At the time of platting an attempt was made to build up the town, and a few improvements were made.

One fraternal society is maintained in the little town. Cazenovia Camp No. 6289, Modern Woodmen of America, was instituted April 22, 1905, with an initial membership of about twenty.

Airlie is a hamlet of unpretentious proportions si,\ and one-half miles west of Pipestone on the Milwaukee railroad. Founded at the time of the buildinj; of that road over thirty years ago, Airlie was saved to Pipestone county and Minnesota by a narrow margin. Had it l)een planted less than a mile further west. South Dakota would have claimed it. Tlie business acti\ itics of the town are centered in a few elevators, a store, shops and a lumber yard.

"Senator Williams, writing in December. 1870. made the following early mention of the proposed Pipestone county colony town: "On the state line separating Minnesota from Dakota territory a town is being laid onl and will soon be built up by the Dundee l.and and Improvement company, who intend it for a Scotch colony. The town will be named Airlie. in honor of the earl of Airlie. of Scotland Fpresident of the corporation]. In the coming spring they will break from .'iOOn to In, (inn acres of land and proceed at once to build dwellings, business hou.ses. shops, churches and school houses."

Great things were expected to result from this border town, and in imagery liic jinmioters beheld a prosperous little city a.s a reward for propo.sed endeavor. The founding of the town, late in the year 1S79, was the work of a Scotch land corporation, styled the Dundee Land and Improvement company, which was responsible for unsuccessful attempts to establish several exclusive Scotch colonies in J southern Minnesota.'

As a matter of fact, the plans made on pa|)er for tiie immediate building of a thriving town at Airlie were never reduced to substance; difficulty in even making a start was encountered. \ grain warehouse was completed early in the. spring of 1880, and in the course of the next few years a few other improvements were added to the initial one. Two stores were in operation in 1881, one of them conducted by John S. Edmons. A postoffice named Clausen wa.s establi-shed at Airlie in Au,gust, 1881, with Mr. Edmons as postmaster.^ George Bailey opened a saloon in the little villa,a:e in September, 1882, and John Paul established the first lumber yard in the fall of 1884.

The ycai' of greatest progress in Airlie's history was 1885, when a number of substantial improvements were made.'" The ^lilwankce company put up a depot, and a new elevator increased the grain handling facilities. The townsite, which had discontinued from the fall of 1SS.3 until December. 1SS4. when it was re-established with Ted Humble as postmaster. Among recent postmasters have been 'Walter Parks, Oscar Arnold. S. E. EUingsnn and J. H. Crawford.

'""Airlie is on the improve and before the close of the present season quite a village will 1 be established here. This week there will be a scliool meeting of the village to organize and make preparations for building a school house. A new store will soon be erected. The Milwaukee folks have promised to build a nice depot early in the spring, and dvniug .a visit last week Mr. Hyde, of the firm of Hodges & Hyde, gr.ain bu.vers. assured the people that his tirm would put up an elevator this season. It hegins lo look as though the 'Duke of .\irlie' would have his wish of long ago granted. Airlie is bound lo make a town," - Pipestone County Star, March 31, 1885.

been surveyed in 1883, was put on record by Samuel H. Graves, representing Close Bros. & Co. A school house was con- .-^tructed in the fall of 1886.

A serious fire did much to hold Airlic in check. The fire fiend attacked the little village on the night of May H. 1899, and wrought irreparable damage and nearly wiped out the town. The conflagration orig-inated in the elevator of W. W. Cargill & Co., and, despite the heroic efforts of the citizens, the progress of the flames, fanned by a strong south wind, could not be stayed until several buildings were destroyed. The Cargill elevator, containing 13.000 bushels of wheat; the elevator of Walter Parks, containing 2.500 bushels of grain ; Mr. Park's barn, a blacksmith shop, a flat hou.se and several sheds and storehouses were totally destroyed.

Cresson

Another place we have to consider is Cresson, a flag station on the Eock Island road in Altona township, which until a few years ago was known as Altoona. Cresson's only distinction lies in the fact that a grain elevator is maintained there.

Located five miles above Cazenovia, on the Eock Island line a short distance from the Dakota line, the beginnings of Altoona were made in the fall of 1885." The Ced;ir Eapids, Iowa Falls & Northwestern Land & Town Lot company, the firm con- IroUing Ibe tmvnsite privileges on the line of the Burlington extension at that time, bought a portion of the farm of Dan Thompson on tlie southwest quarter of section 3(i. of tlie fraction of Altona township, for townsite purposes in August,

"".\nfl now Pipestone county is to have another new town. It is located on the northeast quarter of the southwest ntiarter of section za. township ins, iMnse 47. anrl is to be caUed .Altoona. It is alTont fi\'r niiles frf»ni Pazenovia. Dan Thompson is alrerTly i^ittins in a side track and ttie Bmiin^ton railroad will build a depot befoi-e the snow flies. We have not learned how many stores and saloons will be opened there thi.s winter. h\it if the bantling proposes to keep pace with its neighbors, between

ISS.'j. On Septeniiier 15 the survey was made by LeEoy Grant, an engineer in the company's employ, and the dedication of the plat was made September 28 by S. L. Dows and W. G. Dows, president and secretary, respectively, of the townsite company. A town of large proportions was planned, and to accommodate immediate e.xpansion fourteen blocks were included in the plat.

The first, and for a number of years the sole, enterprise of Altoona was a grain warehouse, erected by Ezra Eice late in the fall of 1885. The first general store was established in February, 1894. One year later, in February, 1895, Altoona postoffice was establislied with Ale.x Mc- Naughton in charge. In later years both tlie store and postoffice were discontinued. At the present time an elevator is the only building that marks the site of Altoona. or Cresson, as the site and station is now named.

In southern Fountain Prairie township, five miles northwest of Holland, is a little inland hamlet, the center of a prosperous settlement of Hollanders. Luctor is the name of the place, which boasts a Dxitch Eeformed church and a store. Churchville was the name bestowed upon the little place, which first became known in April. 1889. The chief motive for the establishment of this community was the desire of the settlers to form a closer union in the practice of their religion. "The Dutch Eeformed Church of Churchville." was organized at that time." Ten acres of land were secured, upon which a house

'="There are very few of our people, possibly, who are aware that a new \'illage has ,iust been organized in this county, but such is a fact. ne\-ertheless. The organization was effected on Mondav last. The new \-iIlage is located in Fountain Prairie township and its name is Phtu'chville. Its residents are mostly Hollanders, consisting of about twenty-two families of worship and a parsonage were erected. The board of the Eeformed church in New Y'orl\ contribnted s^.tOO to the building fund, and a like amount was donated bv Close Bros. & Co. The house of worship was dedicated July 21. 18^^9. by Rev. \V. Wari-enliouse. of Alton. Iowa. The church developed into a strong organization and is still maintained.

Twelve years after the founding of the church, in the spring of 1901, a store was established across the road and at the same time a doctor settled in "New Cliicago," as the hamlet became known after the addition of a b\isiness enterprise. Mr. Hoffkanip, formerly of Leota, Nobles county, was one of the early proprietors of the store. At the final christening, Luctor was the name adopted for the place A postoffice was maintained at Luctor for a number of years, but it was discontinued November 30, 190-5, and the former patrons have since received their mail by rural route.

Other Places

Between Pipestone and Woodstock, on the Omaha railroad, si.x miles east of tlie former place, is an elevator, a side track and a sign board bearing the inscription "Eton." On the time tables of the railroad company the point is designated a station. The elovaioi- and side track were built on section 11, Gray township, in the fall of 1895. (rray Siding was the name originally given the place, and in tim.e this was shortened 1o Cray. In November, 1906, Eton became the official name." The change was made because of the confusion arising from tlic similarity in the names Cray and Cray, both stations on the who have come to stay and are determined workers for the country in which they have made their new liomes. They are a religious clas.s of people and have already organized a church, which will be known as the Reformed church of Churchville." - Pipestone County Star. April 26, 1889.

Three miles northeast of Pipestone, on the Great Northern railroad, is a .side track and grain elevator. The site is not officiallv named. The track and elevator were built in the summer of 190-t by the New London grilling company, of Willmar.

Tl:e development of the pink quarries, three miles northeast of Jasper, in the early nineties brought about the founding of a village there. Late in 1890 a store liiiildint; was put ii|i. in which Archie True engaged in the general merchandise busine.ss. On January 'i-i, 1891, a postoffice, named North Sioux Falls, was established with ^Ir. True as postmaster. Later in the same year the Burlington road was built from Trosky to the quarry, and alioiit tiie same time the importance of the town was added to by the erection of a hotel building. Jasper suffered nothing bv reason of this '"'rival town." whose existence in a few years was only a memory.

In the early days when towns and railroads were few and far between, many of the outlving communities of Pipestone coiinlv had inadequate mail facilities. To remedy this, a number of ennnlrv postoffices, located on overland mail routes, were put in operation at one lime or another.

One such was Meadow postoffice, established in January, 1878. It was just within Ripestone county, close to the southern boundary. After a few years, bv a change of postmasters, the office was reference to the derivation of the nnme: "This place was at one time named Gray, but wa.-; changed to Eton, from a celebrated school in England, at which the Close brothers and Benson were educated. These gentlemen colonized many Knglishmen in this county, and the people of this place wished to honor their memories by naming this place for their school."

Near the north line of Pipestone county for many years a postoffice known as McVcy was maintained. It was discontownship, about eight miles from Pipe stone, was Ridge postoffice. It was established in the fall of 18?8 and Frank A. Bishop was the first postmaster. The office was discontinued in July, 1883.