Sheldon Township

Sheldon Township

The town of Sheldon issitucated in town 103 of range 6 west, on the line heiwetn sections 31 and 32, and derives its name fi-om one of its p-opriotors, Mr. Julius C. Sheldon a resident of Suffield, Connecticut. The original town plat comprises forty acres of fine bottom land, to which an addition of twenty acres has been made, and though s.ifficiently ample for the present iraproveraentg and requirements of its citizens, enough of the same quality of land remains to increase its limits to almost any extent.

The town site is that of a broad bench of laud, running back from Beaver Creek, upon which it is situated, to the extent of a 7nile in width, ^-^nerally level, though sufficiently undulating to increase tiie beauty of the place, without subjecting it to any heavy grading. Tiiis bench contains some six or seven hundred acres, and though surrounded by bluffs, the entrances to it from the variolas roads which connect it with othei' towns and an excellent farming country, are generally most singularly picturesque and beautiful, at the same time rendering it easily accessible from almost any other point in the county.

Mr, John Brown pre-empted tlie land in the yearl854, and tlie valuable water power was soon turned into a good purpose, by the erection of a saw mill, an improvement which is generally considered an essential starting point for a permanent growth to any new Western town.

Beaver Creek which affords one of the most copious water powers in the West is formed from large springs, and lias a western and southern branch which unite and form a single Rtream at a distance of a mile from the town. Either of these branches is amply sufficient for supplying water for first class jnills^of any description and their banks ai'e well situated for tlie required buildings.

lui-an depth of eighteen inches, and empties into the south I'ork of Root River about two miles distant from the continence of its two branches. It has a fiill of ten feet to the mile, and is filled witii fine trout, affording endless sport to tbe angler, besides -"Ppljing the table witli a luxury ever envied by the epicure.

A dam has been stretclied across the stream at the lower part of the town, giving a fiill of thirteen feet, and either above or below this dam any number of mills and factories may be erected and fully supjlied with water the whole year. Five or six large and beautiful springs are situated within a mile of the place and one or two in close proximity to the town plat.

This valuable water privilege which forms the principal featur«? of attraction to men who ai'e on the lookout for good business locations, at once stamps this place as being one eminently fitted for mechanical purposes, i:i which its principal wealth will consist.

Nov have these advantages been overlooked or neglected, as extensive improvements are now in progress, under the direction of Mr, Josephus Seely, which, when completed will be highly complimentary to the energy and enterprise of this gentleman, besides a valuable acquisition to the real wealth of Houstoji County.

Mr. Secly has recently removed from Connecticut and viewing witli the eye of a thorough business critic the natural giftH belonging to tlie place, he is fully determined that the improvements of ait shall not long be wanting to reiuler the town which he has selected for a residence, botli a permanent and increasing k'dvanJ^age to the surrounding country, and as it must become a source of large profit to himself and other citizens of the place. Alreadv he has the timber liewn and drawn to the spot for tli« erection of a first class flouring miP having three run of burrs. He has purchased the saT7 mill built by Messrs. Brown & Swan, and twelve acres adjoining the mill lots, upon which to erect other large and comiaodioas buildings necessary to the convenience and rapid completion of his designs and also upon which can be erected dwellings for those under iiis employ.

With the saw mill is connected a machine siiop, for planing, tonguing and grooving planks and boards, lathes for turning iion and wood, circular saws and various other machines required for mechajiical purposes. A spot has been selected for the erection of a paper miJl, which, when in operation, will undoubtedly receive a liberal support from all paits of the Territory, and Tjupply a deficiency whicli Minnesota especially demands among her factories. The land adjoining tlie mill site,, owned by Mr, Seely, is rendered doubly valuable from the fact that it has within its limits a large bed of clay from which a superior quality of brick may be easilv manufactured, and but a few rods distant, a a large bank of the best quality of sand for building purposes. Grey limestone is found in abundance, and of excellent quality, near the town, and soon a quarry will be opened to furnish stone for the foundation to several buildings designed to be erected in a short time.

Excellent timber is found near the town, and is easily procured and converted into lumber. In the valleys are to be found jnincipally black walnut, elm and basswood, while on the higher ^nounds and bluffs, wliite, red and burr oak and black walnut abound in very considera,ble quantities.

The streets are laid out at right angles ; those encompassing the town, also tiie two principal streets through the place being eighty-two feet wide, the remaining streets having a width of pixly-two feet. The public square, in the centre of the tcAvn, i.s two hundred by four hundred feet in size, and will soon be properly fenced and ornamented with a view to the fiitiu'e adornment of the town. Each lot is one hmidred and twenty feet square, and between each an alley of twenty feet in width conveniently separates tlieir limits.

Sheldon contains a population of over one liundrcd ; has oikblacksmitli shop, a niacliine and wag:ou shop, three saw mills, one hotel and two dry goods and grocery stores.

A church and school liouse will soon be numbej-ed among the permanent and useful ornameiits to tlie place, lots having been reserved for th.em.

Seven important and well tra^eied roaHs lead fiora Sheldon, to diiferent points at a distance, most of them traversing the richest agricultural portions of the county and affording the place a splendid opportunity for beco'niiig a central raai-ktt for agricultural products in this portion of country.

A perpetuation of that spirit of eutei-prise wliich now scen.s to characterize the citizens of Slieldon will certainly open tlie channels of a fine and natural commu!\ication between the town and farming interests, wliich cannot fail to become mutually beneficial, and evciitually it will be able to command what it now. seeks - to obtain the patronage of the farmers.

That town must become a point of interest and attraction which is prepared to take the products of the fai'mer in excliange for goods of all descriptions, and turn tlicse products again into a cash market by means of mills and shops.

Sheldon will be fully able to do tliis when her system of improvements sliall have been completed, and as her roads are improved, so mucli greater will be her cliances for attracting tlie products of the ricliest portion of Houston County.

market at SHeldon, ^hile the valley of the Soiitli Fork of Root River may contribute not a little to build up and sustain for licr a reputation for thrift and busy enterprise, a sure precursor of a growing and populous town.

Upon the whole, we consider the town of Sheldon as one destined to be of no second or tliird rate importance in the history ..f our progress. Her fine natural advantages must attract attention when they become generally known, and when tliorougli business men begin to improve these advantages her superiority as a good point for the interchange of all kinds of commodities, must and will place her in a prominent position among tlie towns of Southern Minnesota.

La Crescent is situated on portions of sections three^ ten and eleven, in township 104 north of range 4 west, in' Houston County, Slate of Minnesota. It lies on the west bank of the JJississippi River, opposite Nortli La Crosse, and a little noitli of opposite the city of La Crosse. From the steamboat landing at the city of La Crosse to the La Crescent landing is somewhat less than two miles.

Just above tlie nortliern limits of La Crescent, the higli bluffs vhich for miles above and below this point wall in the Missi^ippi River, diverge from its immediate banks, leaving at their base a beautiful table land containing over six luindred acres, whose mean elevation is about fifty feet above high water mark. In front of this table "is a triangular, piece of bottom land, wliose apex is at the northern limits of the town, and whose base is in the vicinity of Root River, which land is subject to overflow. The table lands are a mile and a half in length and about threefourths of mile in width. On these the principal paii of the town is built ; and a more lovely location for a town cannot well tie imagined. Tl^e tables are level, with a ^navd and loam aubsoil of great depth, giving dry cellars wiliiout drainage; a dry and clean surface free from dust, sand and clay mud - pure water ; and tlie richest of garden land, which is easily cultiVatcil. Mature has dotted the plat with beautiful burr oak shade trees giving the town a cool, shady and inviting appearance La Orescent will vie with the banks of the Had^on .ui furnishing magnificent residence locations. There arc many elevated benches, easily accessible, whicli command extensive views of the river, bluff and valley, and the surrounding towns. In fact, a more lovely and more lovely and magnificent landscape tlian' is here spread oat to view, need not be wishod tor to satiate the most ardent admirer of the beauties of nature.

La Crescent was laid out in June, ^185G ; and the town wa« iJicorporated by the Legislature in Februaiy, 1 857. The jTrtsen t population (May, 1858,) is about four liundred. About eighty buildings have been erected, most of which are of a substantial kind, and present rather a neat and tasty appearance. There are two good hotels, four dry goods and grocery stores, one drug store and one furniture store. There are al^o a good steam sa^ mill, a large warehouse which will soon be opened, a blacksmith's shop and a shoemaker's sliop.

La Crescent can boast of a good brick school hoi-se, and of a set of inhabitants willing to be liberally taxed for the support of good schools. Provisions have been made for a nine months' freij school for the present year.

The Baptist and Methodist denomination.s have regular services, conducted by able ministeis. There arc also a sabbath school and bible class held every Sabbath, and a prayer meeting eveij Thursday evening.

springs and spring brooks. Its waters flo"^ deep and rapidly and are cleai- as crystal ; and the stream witli its tributaries are full of the finest trout. There is an ujiiinproved water power on tliis strcana, contiguous to town, which, with a coroparatively snjall outlay of capital, can be made to suppi ' ample power for ail the milling and manufacturing purposes which will ever be required, A dam can be raised any required height witliin thirty feet, not exceeding in mean length sixty leet. The bank.s ai'e firm, and there is abundant material for the construction of a dam, in the immediate vicinity. The supply of water is abundant and never failing. There are good facilities for carrying a large race a great distance, for the snpply of side races, thus supplying any required number of mills and factories from one dam. Here is a good opening for a fiouring mill, and one is very much needed. It is also a good location for a paper mill. The water is of the purest kind, the demand for paper lai'ge, and the supply limited. A good machine shop, turning lathes, chair and tub factories, tan and currier's establishment, and an oil rail] would all be paying investments. This wiUalbo soon be a good opening for a small woolen factory.

The rich, fertile valleys of Pine Creek a?Kl Root River are naturally tributary to La Crescent. Tiiese valleys, within the last three years, have been settling up rapidly with enteiprising fai'mers, and already quite a large suj'^us of grain and provisions is raised, which will increase annually as new farms are opened up and improvements extended. Root River rises about one hundred miles inlaud and traverses a rich agricultural region, to a large extent prairie, but is itself skilled with good timber. In the valleys of Root River and Pine Creek fir:e farm lands can be bought second hand very cheap, which land must all rapidly increase in value on account of contemplated railroad improvements.

No town on tlie \rcst bank of tlic Mississippi river, between Head's Landing and McGregor's is as favorably situated as La Crescent in reference to an easy coraraiinicalion with tlie int<;rior. Through tlie valleys of Root Kiver and Pine Creek all portions of the country can be reached without the necessity of climbing steep hills, and good and permanent wagon roads can be easily built. Great improvements in the roads arc contemplated the present season. The same may be said of the approaches to the river on the east side at La Crosse. The La Crescent Company owns one of the finest ferry boats on the Mississippi Ri\cr, which boat plies regularly between La Crescent and La Crosse. Tliese advantages combined make this the most favorable point for land emigrants to cross the Mississi]^pi ; and the large number of emigrant teams which are now crossing here daily, shows that these advantages are understood and appreciated. There are already three main roads, whicli diverge into many otliei-rs, k^ading back into the country, making La Crescent accessible irom all points.

In a commercial point of view. La Crescent is the gateway to to Southern Minnesota; and will be its commercial emporium. This is made so by the iraportrint railroad connections which liave a bearing upon the prosperity of the town, and by its situation on tlie west bank of tlie Mississippi River. TJie La Crosse and Milwaukee Railroad, which is being pushed wrward rapidly, will be completed this season . This will give La Crescent a direct railroad connection with Milwaukee, Chicago and the seaboai'd cities. By means of the Mississippi River the town has an extensive communication with the south and the north; and tlirough the land grant railroads of Minnesota it soon wiK havi; easy communication with the west. The Southcra Miiiucsota Railroad which leaves iht, Mississippi, and has its terminus ai La Crescent, is virtually an extension of the La Crosse amJ

MiiwjAtkec Road. Tliis road will be fed hy the Cedar Valier Road wliicli it will intersect about eighty miles north-west of La Orescent, and through which road La Crescent will have a a direct railroad coreiraunicalion with St. Paul. At St. Peter tri3 Southevn Minnesota Road will tap the Minnesota Vallej Road, which is owned and controlled by the same company ; tlius completing the railroad connection between La Crescent on the Mississippi, and Sioux City, or some other point in that vicinity, on the Missouri. It will also connect at St. Peter oo'iiiect with tlie western extei-ssion of the Transit Road : thi^.s givi!-g La Crescent over one thousand miles of i-ailroad conaniunication within the Stt'te of Minnesota. By far the larger portion of the already large and growing traffic and travel of Minnesota will reach the Mississippi at this point, for here only will it bo able for soree jeajs to come, to find within the State an eastern outlet by railroad.

Tlic jailroads of Minnesota liave a solid basis, possessing heavy grants of lands, and a loan of the State credit to the amount of $5,000,000. The conditions of the loan are such that in order to avail themselves of its provisions, the several railroad coraplinics mast commence tlie constrnction of their respective roads, by or before the first of August next. It is the design of the Soutliern ilinrjcsota Railroad Compajiy to comme?iC8 the construction of tlieir road, at La Crescent, some time in the month of June of tiic present year ; and the road will probably be completed to Kochcstcr by the fall of .1859. At no point within one hundred iniica of La Crescent can a railroad be built from the the river to the interior of the S»at«, with as easy grades and slight curves, and at as small expense as from this point.

In the imrjculiatc vicinity of La Crescent are good stoiic for building material, llie best of material in abundance for grout or gravel wall, good clay for brick, the purest sand for raaniifacturing glass in abundance, and any quantity of oak for fuel. Here is a good opening for a wagoii maker, a tinner, a tailor, a milliner and dressmaker, a blacksmith, a shoemaker and other tradesmen. Paying investments can be made here in town property, and good farm lands in the vicinity can be bought cheap. !N'ow is the time to purchase before work is commenced on the railroad.

Tlic town ef Houston is situated in town iOl, section 3-1, range 0, about fonrteeu miles fro ni the mouth of Root River, and uj-ou its western bank.

The site is that of an extensive prairie plain, a mile in width perfectly level, and in the whole body, contiining thousands of of acres of land, most advantageously situated to avoid the labor of grading. The original town plat was staked out by Messrs, McSpadden and Stafford, in 1854. Since that time other additions to the town have been I'ccordcd : one of eighty acres, owned by JMessi's. Crookson and Smart, of La Crosse ; also, another of om.' iiundred and twenty acres, formerly the jjroperty of Joel Marsli, but of late reverted into the hands of Ole Knudson.

The bench of land is teu feet above the low water mark of Root River, having excellent banks for receiving and discliarging cargoes of the small vessels which may easily navigate the Root River to this poii:t. At tliis point the river is joined by the waters of the South Branch, a part of the town plat lying adjacent to both streanis, thus giving an advantage for tlie ira])rovemei:t of a water power scarcely to be equalled in the "West, v, hen th«' necessary 'Capital is brought forward to complete improvementswhich are re^%ardtd favorably by I'ue citizens and propria lo'iy..

lioot Kiver at this point is one ijundred and sixty feet widcj lias a mean depth of six and a half feet, and a fall of five and a lialf feet per mile. The town plat is neaiij square in form, the principal streets being eighty feet in width, and the remainder sixty feet. Lots being 60 by 149, and alleys twenty feet in width, and all laid off at right angles, and with the most exact rcgnlarity and conrenience for biiildijig purposes.

Considering the difficulty which attends our pioneers generally in starting towns, and the length of time it takes to get the advantages of good town sites knoAvn to to the world, the town of Houston has not been backward in the race for population, wealth and enterprise which has distinguished the growth of many points in the county. Isor is at all an unfavorable point f«)ra rapid and permanent growth.

Although having been settled only three years, it now numbers among its permanent improvements in all about thirty-five or forty buildings, including three store houses, two shingle factories, turning out from three to fire thousand each daily, two carpenter shops, chair factory and cabinet shop, one cooper shop, one blacksmith shop, a steam saw mill, one corn mill, a turning lathe and broom factory. A good school house was also erected wheii the town was first started, as the citizens seem to regard tlie cause of education an important one, and are now enjoying the advantages of a first rate school.

But other factories are called for, and contracts liave been made for the erection in the summer of a good grist and saw mill, a brewery, a commodious ferry, and about a dozen dwellings.

Building stone in profuse aburdance and good cpiality are found in the bluffs, near the town, and a large brick yard will be opened near the town in a sliort time, a good market at home. The town of Houston is bountifully vsui3plied ^vith almost all kinds of timber, adjoining the town plat. Oak, walnut, butternut, elms of all kinds, and large quantities of sugar raaj^le are most conveniently situated to supply the increasing deiuands of a young and thrifty place.

Houston is an excellent place for a boat yard, owing to the bountiful supply of the nectssary timber for this puj-]-)ose, and also a good opportunity for launching. Some six or eight good roads run directly through the place, giving it the trade of several rich and important valleys, which, when pouring their products into one town, must oei-tainly make it an advantagcou? and lucrative trading point. The rich valleys of the South Fork. Badger and Beaver Creeks must contribute to the growth of Houston from the south, while'Looney's Valley and the choice farming lauds of Money Creek on the north, will be valuable auxiliaries to its prosperity. These advantages alone would be sufficient to sustain an extensive mercantile trade. But another featuie of attraction for Houston is the good prospect afiorded td it by the Southern Minnesota and Root River Yalley Railroad, whicli will probably run directly tlirough the place according td the survey already made. The immediate construction of thi.<; railroad is a fixed fact, and there can be no doubt but tliat it will be built according to the original survey.

TJiis road once built will give the town of Sheldon a convenient shipping point for its manufactures, being only six miles dista7)t, at the same time making Houston an important place for the accumulation of those productions which this region of country will supply for a foreign market. Farming lands within four or live miles of Houston range in price from five to twenty-live dollars per acre, and no one who is familiar with the rnagniticent crops of Houston County last year will consider the prices inflated to satisfy the demands of a speculative mania.