Page 284. Mankato. A leading and progressive city of 6,000 inhabitants, charmingly embowered in a valley of the Minnesota and Blue Earth rivers, and surrounded by tree-crowned hills and bluffs. The outlying region is among the earliest settled, and still claims to be the most beautiful, and the most fertile district of the proud state of Minnesota. It is in the northern part, and is the seat of Blue Earth county, distant 86 miles from St. Paul, at the intersection of the St. P. & S. C., the W. & St. P. and the C. M. R. Rs. The Blue Earth river affords power for driving a flouring mill in the neighborhood. The steam driven works embrace three machine shops, two flouring mills, a plow factory, feed mill, planing mill, sash and blind factory, fanning mill factory, woolen mill, linseed oil works, pump factory and printing house. A large steam flouring mill is about to be erected. Numerous mechanical enterprises requiring no artificial power are also in operation, viz.: A half dozen carriage and wagon shops, four breweries, a pottery, extensive brick yards, lime kilns, etc. The flour product of the city and neighborhood for 1877 amounted to 37,000 barrels. Included in the year’s receipts were 300,000 bus. Wheat, 36,500 bus. Oats, 25,000 bus. Barley, 18,000 bus. Corn, 2,000 bus. timothy seed, 1,000,000 lbs. pork, 50,000 lbs. hams, 30,000 lbs. lard, most of which were shipped forward.
The Board of Trade report of Mankato for 1877 estimates that 200,000 lbs. of fresh pork, 700,000 lbs. beef, and 125,000 of other meats and poultry not included in the preceding figures, were retained for home consumption. The value of real and personal taxable property at Mankato is placed at $4,484,000. One private and two national banks are located here, the latter having respectively $70,000 and $120,000 capital, with surplus of $22,000. Mankato occupies the front rank as a seat of culture and refinement. The religious denominations are represented by the following churches: Episcopal, Baptist, Congregational, Methodist, Welsh Methodist, German Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Christian, Evangelical Association, Evangelical Lutheran, Trinity Lutheran, Advent and Swedish Lutheran. Of the educational institutions the State Normal School for "teaching how to teach" is very prominent. In this era when success and happiness in life are contingent upon trained intellect, a well-regulated commonwealth recognizes the need of highly qualified educators for its youth. There are about eight such schools in the United States, of which Minnesota has three. The enrollment of the Mankato school for 1877, consisted of 63 male and 112 female students, and the faculty numbered 8 persons. A cut of the Mankato Normal School may be seen on the opposite page. A fine graded school is also lo-
Page 286. cated here. The public school property of the city has cost $32,700, and a total of 21 teachers are employed therein. Here are also a Catholic college and a school of the Sisters of Charity, which are built upon a commanding site overlooking the city. The press is represented by four weekly newspapers, one German. The Review, having a steam press, was established in 1869, and is the only Democratic paper in the county. The Record and Union, both Republican in politics, were established in 1858. The city boasts, also, a public library. It has no lack of hotels, the leading and deservedly popular one being the Clifton House, under the management of Fred. Hanson. Telegraph, Western Union. Express, American. Stage to Minnesota Lake tri-weekly. Eight mails daily. (Minnesota State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1878-9, Volume 1, R. L. Polk & Co., and A. C. Danser, Detroit, Michigan)
Page 2. Mankato. The Flourishing Metropolis of Southern Minnesota. The Immense Wealth to be Found in Her Stone Quarries. How It Is Being Developed by Her Enterprising Citizens. Bridge and Building Stone, Lime and Cement of Superior Quality. Some Account of the Manufacturing and Wholesale Trade of the City. Its Public Buildings and Societies – The Center of a Growing Country. I am well aware that by those of the many readers of the Globe who are unacquainted with the flourishing city of which I write, I may be characterized as an enthusiast and much of what I shall say may be by them regarded as the creations of an over-wrought imagination. I am perfectly well aware that a certain class of newspapers of the present day are ready to boom an individual or a town "for a consideration." I have this, however, to say concerning the following sketch of the material interests of Mankato, that it has been prepared from a personal knowledge of the facts and figures quoted and is not the result of an overwrought fancy aided by any pecuniary remuneration, but is simply a matter of news which, founded upon actual facts must prove interesting to every one who rejoices in the growth and prosperity of this great commonwealth of which this city and its tributary territory now form, and are destined to forever be, a very large and important component part.
In order to more thoroughly understand the real importance which this flourishing city bears to the commercial system of the state a few remarks concerning its location and geographical position may not be out of place. Mankato is located upon the extreme southern verge of the great bend of the Minnesota river at the exact center of the state east and west and about fifty miles from its southern boundary. The navigation of the river in the early days before the advent of railroads in Minnesota, furnished means of communication with the outside world, and hence Mankato became, with the other river towns, a place of importance. A glance at any sectional map will show the observer that by virtue of its location it becomes geographically a strategic point. Situated upon a navigable river but a little over 100 miles above its confluence with the great river at St. Paul, on the verge of the great belt of timber which follows the river, on the northern edge of the great prairie region of southern and southwestern Minnesota and had a railroad never entered the state, Mankato must have been a central point for a vast extent of territory.
Southern Minnesota. The great state of Minnesota is practically divided, agriculturally speaking, into three sections, viz: Its timber district located mainly in the north northeastern portion of the state, its central and northwestern or wheat producing region, and southern Minnesota, that vast and fertile section so well adapted to dairying, stock, sheep, horse and hog raising, the culture of corn, oats, flax and other grains and to a diversified system of farming. The geographical center of this surpassingly rich and fertile region as has already been shown, is at Mankato, and what God and nature have marked out as its destiny, art and many has ably seconded. Its Railroad System. Early in the history of the railroad interests of Minnesota Mankato became an objective point for two of the great systems of roads first projected – the Winona & St. Peter, an east and west line designed to traverse, as it now does, the state from east to west, and the Minnesota Valley now known as the St. Paul and Sioux City division of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha line, a road leading south up the Minnesota river valley to Mankato and thence southwest to Sioux City.
To these two great through lines, the one leading east to Milwaukee, Chicago and other points, and the other the great Southwestern line from St. Paul to the Missouri and a connection with the Union Pacific has since been added, a line to Elmore in northern Iowa due south from Mankato where a connection is had with the Chicago & Northwestern railroad and the Southern Minnesota division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul southeasterly and easterly to La Crosse and all points east and south. To these lines already in operation with their twelve full passenger trains arriving and departing each day, may be added that of the Cannon Valley railroad from Red Wing southwest, now completed within a few miles of the city, and coming in this summer, giving Mankato a connection with the Rock Island system, making seven difficult directions in which one can arrive or depart from Mankato by rail. I have thus shown the geographical location and central position which this city at the head of the Minnesota valley occupies toward southern Minnesota, and how she is bound to it by her bands of iron reaching out over its broad area of hill and valley, forest and stream, prairie and upland. I shall now consider her natural resources and agricultural surroundings.
Agricultural Resources. The agricultural resources of the country immediately surrounding Mankato are both rich and varied. To the north lies the heavy timber belt, the last barrier between the sweep of the ocean of rolling prairie and the rest of the world, rich in its wealth of native timber, oak, ash, elm, maple, basswood, poplar and other woods, and of a deep, rich and wonderfully productive soil, while east, south and west the famous prairie of unsurpassed fertility stretch out like the broad expanse of the ocean, capable of sustaining an untold population. Within a radius of twenty miles from Mankato the farmer from the heavily timbered districts of Michigan, Maine or any other northern state, can find the counterpart of his old home farm or can locate upon the broad prairie, of which he has heard so much. In fact any kind of a farm suitable for any species or system of agriculture can be found here, and the agricultural resources of the country surrounding Mankato can fairly said to be rich, rare and varied, and without an equal in the same extent of territory anywhere. Particularly well adapted are the prairie regions of this southwestern section of the state for the support of the dairy. The rich, luxuriant native prairie grasses furnish not only a splendid pasturage, upon which the cattle feed with the greatest relish, but the quantity of milk produced from a herd of a given number of cows, surpasses that of those pastured on the finest of tame grasses, while the quality of the butter and cheese is of a most superior degree of excellence. Vast quantities of hay are annually cut and pressed for shipment, while enormous quantities stand uncut with each successive season.
Mineral Resources. The formation at and near Mankato is a subject full of the deepest interest to geologists and of vast importance to the city, as in the different stratas are contained the elements of enormous wealth which are to be found at no other point in Minnesota or the northwest. The most thorough, careful and painstaking researches continued for years have failed to discover in this vicinity any evidences of drift. The unmistakable evidences of the action of the glaciers and the deposit which marks their presence elsewhere do not exist here, and we are compelled to believe that the glacial period must have been omitted for the purpose of leaving the formation pure and free from foreign substances that it might be made available for mean’s use. The formation may be termed "lower silurian" with each strata as before stated free from all impurities. Its rock clays and sand form the chief elements of value. Mankato Stone. The rock formation at Mankato has thus far been utilized for three distinct purposes, vis.: for building and bridge stone, for burning lime and latterly for the manufacture of cement. The building and bridge stone which the quarries north of the city and partially within its limits contains is inexhaustible in amount and of superior quality to any stone found anywhere in Minnesota or the northwest for building or bridge purposes.
For a number of years, and in fact ever since the settlement of this section began the Mankato quarries have been regarded as the best in the northwest, but it has been within the past few years that their real wealth and vast commercial importance has been fully appreciated or their resources anything like properly developed. During the past year the enormous amount of 12,000 cars of stone for building and bridge purposes have been shipped from the different Mankato quarries to all points in the northwest. A large bridge across the Missouri at Blair, Nebraska, the great four track viaduct bridge at Minneapolis over the Mississippi, the Seventh street bridge at St. Paul and numberless public and private structures have drawn their material from the inexhaustible and incomparable Mankato quarries. Besides W. B. Craig & Co., Capt. J. R. Beathy and some smaller dealers, the several railroad companies who run in here have quarries of their own and take out a vast amount annually for their own use. The supply is ample for hundreds of years to come and the quarrying and caring of their natural resource employs a host of men which is being augmented year by year, as the demand increases and the facilities for handling and shipping become better. All companies and individuals now handling stone are expecting to increase their force the coming year and turn out more rock.
Lime. The most valuable lime for brick or stone work burned in Minnesota is the celebrated Mankato lime. The elements which produce cement seem to enter into the rock formation all about here to a greater of less degree, and hence for building purposes the lime is invaluable as its adhesiveness is so great. Capt. J. R. Beatty, one of the heaviest dealers, expects to burn three times as much as usual this year. Mankato Cement. For over thirty years Capt. J. R. Beatty, who has been engaged in the stone and lime business has studied the character of the formation and has constantly been making experiments to test the quality and value of the ledges which exist here. Long years ago he discovered that the lime which he burned possessed greater adhesive qualities when placed in contact with stone or brick than any lime in this section. He also discovered unmistakable evidences of the absence of drift in the formation which, together with the adhesive qualities of his lime and the desire to invent a concrete that would withstand our severe winter frosts led him to experiment and investigate still further. He became convinced that the rock formation contained the elements of natural cement to a very marked degree, and experiments revealed to him the fact that his quarry contained a layer of thin shale that was cement itself.
This, however, he found to be of insufficient quantity and not easily enough accessible to be made available. Being convinced that ledges of cement rock must exist somewhere in this vicinity he continued his researches, and was at last rewarded about five years ago with the discovery of a cement stone ledge. His discovery was followed up by careful tests, which were so eminently successful in their results as to at last attract the attention of the Standard Cement company, of New York, who came upon the ground and obtained the property upon which the ledge was located, and began last week the erection of very substantial and valuable cement works. The company have built their buildings of stone, with iron roofs, and have expended in buildings, kilns and machinery $83,000. The buildings consist of a warehouse 50x250, cement mill, 40x80, engine and boiler room, 40x40, cooper shop, 40x125, all two stories high, beside office, blacksmith shop, room for twisting engine, etc. The kilns, five in number, have an aggregate capacity of 1,000 bbls. per day while the mill has a capacity for 1,500 barrels. The motive power is furnished by an engine of 200-horse power, and the fuel is deposited at the side of the kiln from the side tracks of the different roads which enter their yard.
The practical tests in quantities have fully equaled expectation of the company who began to manufacture towards the close of last summer, and the coming year will see lively times at the cement works. The property upon which this valuable formation exists covers an area of about 100 acres and is at least twenty-five feet thick, and no estimate of its quantity can be made, except to say that with the most extensive manufacture possible the supply is simply inexhaustible. For all purposes to which this article is applied the Mankato cement is far more valuable than any American cement ever discovered, and the importance to Mankato of the operation of this industry and the conversion of this dormant material into a merchantable article cannot be estimated. In the language of Judge Severance, it is certain to be the most important industry in southern Minnesota. Mr. F. N. Merrill, of Milwaukee, constructed the works and operates them as the company’s manager. Having thus at some length considered the latent wealth fast becoming developed which Mankato possesses, we next come to the consideration of Mankato Clays.
The many substantial and well preserved brick buildings to be found in Mankato, some of them erected long years ago, attest the valuable nature of its clays for brick making. The clay banks are absolutely pure and free from any deposit and have not a trace of limestone or other substances in them, and produce a very superior character of brick. A number of companies have been engaged in the manufacture of brick, among which Willard & Polchow and A. R. Mather, who made last year some 5,000,000, lead the van. From seven to ten million were made last year which amount will be very largely increased the coming season, a number of new yards being under contract. Mankato Stoneware Company. This institution purchased by John A. Sanborn last spring was operated by him at a capacity of some 50,000 gallons and which turned out goods equal to the best Ohio ware and which sold rapidly and well. The company is to be reorganized this season and enlarged by the addition of large capital and its capacity more than doubled. The clay used for the purposes of their manufactory is of the most desirable quality and guarantees success.
Mankato Clay Works. Among the most interesting and valuable discoveries of the latent wealth of Mankato has been that of the existence of a most superior quality of "fire clay," in what has been for years considered a worthless bank of chalk white material. Early last spring Mr. S. F. Alberger, a gentleman from New York who has large experience in the manufacture of fire brick, came to Mankato, and after prospecting for some little time, came upon this mine of hidden wealth and at once began experimenting. So satisfactory were his tests that a company has been formed, with the above caption, who, in addition to the manufacture of fire brick will continue the manufacture of drain tile, so successfully accomplished last year by Mr. Alberger, and also no doubt manufacture well tubing, sewer and culvert pipe and hollow brick. The works at present occupy a building near the Sioux City depot, formerly used as a wheat warehouse, which has been converted into use as a fire brick factory and furnished with all the necessary machinery and steam for power and heating.
The present capacity of the works is about 500 brick per day, which in summer will be increased to 10,000. The indestructability of this clay may be shown from the fact that subjected to 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit a degree of heat so intense that the human eye could not look at the substance, it sustained its form and substance and refused to melt. This industry thus established becomes of all the more importance from the fact that no fire clay of any degree of value not works for the manufacture of fire brick exists anywhere nearer than St. Louis and Chicago. Permanent works are to be erected this summer by the company nearer their clay supply, and an extensive business will thus be inaugurated. Mankato Sand. A grade of sand said by experts to be of the character necessary to make glass has been discovered, and samples sent east for tests have produced the most satisfactory results, and a glass factory will be established here at no very distant date.
Having thus briefly passed in review some of the natural resources of the earth formation at Mankato I shall next attempt a partial review of its general manufacturing industries or the production of articles of a merchantable character from different substances. The ones just passed may be styled "the production of something from nothing" or the manufacture of crude substances of but little or no value in that state. Those to follow are of a finer grade or produced from more valuable material. In this enumeration I am well aware that I have reviewed very many institutions of comparatively small capacity individually but which aggregate largely in making up the sum total of the city’s industries and which help to swell the volume of her wealth. I have made no mention of retail institutions, some of which are of a magnitude and importance which dwarf some of the wholesale houses mentioned, but I have included in my sketch those institutions which either by manufacturing or wholesaling to other towns contribute toward the increase of material wealth of the city by drawing their support in a large degree from outside points.
The result of my investigation and experience is to the effect that it takes three things to build a good town here in the west, a city of importance and of a population which approximates something near to the expectations and wishes of its friends and these are agriculture, commerce and manufactures. I have noticed that a purely agricultural town seldom remains prosperous after the introduction of over 5,000 people into its corporate limits. I have also seen that the wealth and population of a manufacturing city depends very largely upon the variety as well as the extent of its factories, and also upon the production of articles of merchantable value from cheap material. The establishment of extensive manufacturing establishments in any place similar to those now launched and in operation at Mankato brings with it of necessity a certain amount of commerce or wholesale business, and while these two industries go hand in hand and in a great measure depend one upon another, they can and sometimes do exist in localities removed from fine agricultural surroundings. At Mankato, however, the three great elements combine to produce a great city, and a great city they are fast producing. I now pass to the manufacturing establishments in question.
Linseed Oil Mill. This may justly be said to be the most important of all of Mankato’s manufacturing institutions as well as the pioneer. It was established in the year 1872 and has been operated continuously ever since and is to-day the most successful institution west and north of Chicago. Not only does it form a very important industry of Mankato but providing as it does a home market for flax, a crop admirably adapted for cultivation in Southern Minnesota it is an institution which is of vast importance to the entire section. When first built not a bushel of flax was raised in the territory, and seed had to be imported. The owners of the mill bought 300 bushels of seed which was loaned to the farmers and 30,000 bushels of a not very fine quality was the return, most of which was manufactured, a part, however, being again returned to the farmers for seed. They have purchased of the crop of 1883 the enormous amount of 280,000 bushels at an average price of $1.35 at the mill, $1 being the least price paid.
The present capacity of the mill is 1,200 bushels daily, which makes an average of 2,500 gallons of oil, or over one car load daily, and twenty-three tons of oil cake. The storage capacity of 100,000 bushels, which their fine brick elevator contains, has long since proved inadequate, and the company have sought storage elsewhere about town. A new elevator of 200,000 bushels capacity will be erected the coming year. The mill, elevators, office, boiling rooms, and other buildings are of brick and are quite valuable, over $90,000 having been expended in their construction. The present engine being of insufficient capacity a new one is to be put in the coming year of 120-horse power, which, with other new machinery and buildings, will make this one of the largest mills in America. The manner of extracting the oil is by the hydraulic pressure system, which renders their oil cake a very superior article of cattle food. The new presses just put in will double the capacity, which last season turned out 6,800 barrels of oil, using 160,000 bushels of seed, and producing the consequent amount of oil cake.
They received 517 cars of see and have shipped 418 cars of oil and oil cake, most of the latter going direct to England. With the increasing interest manifested in this portion of the state, and the general desire to abandon exclusive wheat raising for this branch of farming, and for stock raising in general, but little time will elapse until this most desirable nutritious food will find a home market which will in time no doubt equal the supply. During the great financial crisis of 1873, cars of oil cake brought money the moment they were loaded, the shipper being instructed to draw on London or Liverpool as soon as laden. The fact that no explosion can ever result under the pressure process in use in this mill, as was the case with the St. Paul oil mill some time age, renders this one very popular, and the people of Mankato point to it with pride. The company have the following officers: J. A. Willard, President; G. F. Pipes, secretary and superintendent. Both raw and boiled oil are produced.
Flouring Mills. The "Mankato" flouring mill, one of the largest and best mills outside of Minneapolis in Minnesota, operates forty-nine pairs of rollers and five run of burrs, and has a capacity for the manufacture of 700 barrels of flour per day, and consequently must consume 3,500 bushels of wheat. It is a model mill, built to make money, and necessarily contains the most perfect and improved machinery. The building is of brick, stone trimmed and cost its owners $120,000. The mill company has an elevator on the Chicago and Northwestern track as well as Southern Minnesota railroad, which has a capacity of 285,000 bushels. The mill manufactures five distinct brands or grades of flour, and turned out the past year 135,000 barrels. The larger part of this has to be shipped here from the west by rail which with the shipments of flour requires a large number of cars in the course of a year – 35 men are employed about the mill. A Corliss engine of 275 horse power moves the vast machinery of this mill, while in the same engine room may be found the engine and great force pump for supplying the city Holly water works system. Five boilers furnish the steam for the two engines, and also for steam heating the mill, and eight to nine tons of coal are required per day. The mill is under the active management of Mr. F. L. Waters, and does admirable work, turning out flour which commands as ready a sale and as good prices as any in the west.
Mankato City Mills. This mill with a capacity of 100 barrels per day has been recently refitted and is now in excellent order. It is owned and operated by Mr. J. Bierbauer, and is a roller mill. Much of its products find a ready market at home while the remainder goes east. Iron and Novelty Works. The Mankato Iron and Novelty works operate as their name would indicate a machine shop and foundry. They do a general business as would be expected of such an institution, but like many individuals they have their hobby and that is an iron farm fence. Though the vast belt of timber adjoining Mankato furnishes nature’s own material for fences at a very reasonable figure yet the more remote prairie districts tributary to her find it not only expensive by reason of transportation but also from lack of durability, cost of construction and liability to destruction from prairie fires. I was much surprised to learn that the timber farmers in this vicinity are using barbed wire for fences with an abundance of timber on their own land. The Mankato Iron Fence Novelty works perceiving the great and growing demand for a perfect, cheap and durable iron fence have procured an invention and are now manufacturing an iron farm fence which combines all the elements desirable to make it popular with and useful to the farmer.
It consists of a tubular wrought iron post with a three-flanged cast iron base which, when the post is driven into the ground, comes just above its surface and thus secures the post from the rust which would soon destroy it were this part also wraught. The posts being tubular offer a much greater resistance for the amount of iron they contain than in any other form and are designed to be set or driven in the ground just four rods apart. To these posts, which rise four feet three inches above the surface, three or more barbed wires are attached by means of small bits of tie wire inserted in holes drilled through the posts. Between each two are three iron stays which are firmly attached to the wires by means of iron staples which effectually prevent their becoming separated should any one of them become more slack than the rest or should they be attacked by stock. When once the fence is set and the wires attached there is no slack or sagging except between posts, a distance of four rods, as the wires are so attached as not to move upon the posts. The posts being set this distance apart offers less actual resistance to pressure of stock than if nearer and being more flexible is less liable to be broken easily, resuming its position as the stock gladly retreat from the quick remonstrance of the sharp iron barbs.
The entire cost, wire and all, of a three wire fence of this kind is but fifty cents per rod or thirty cents per rod for posts and stays alone. The indestructibility of this fence which neither rots down nor can be burned up, its perfect protection to crops or resistance to attacks of stock, its cheapness and the rapidity with which it can be set, removed or transferred renders it at once the most desirable farm fence imaginable and must immediately come into general use. The company referred to and which have undertaken its manufacture were organized July, 1833 (?), with the following officers: President – J. A. Willard. Vice President – C. D. Taylor. Treasurer – George H. Clark. Secretary – S. F. Barney. They have paid up capital of $25,000 and besides doing a general foundry and machine shop trade they will build a large amount of this farm fence and ornamental dooryard fence this season. They employ a large force of men and will enlarge their works to suit the necessities of their trade which in the farm fence line cannot help but prove enormously large as the practical tests already made show it to be the most desirable farm or railroad fence ever invented.
Mankato Manufacturing Co. This company was organized in July, 1873, and has been most successfully operated ever since. They do a general foundry and machine shop business and manufacture steam engines, both stationary and portable, and all kinds of saw and flouring mill machinery. They have some very complete and expensive machinery, operate four large power lathes and two very large iron planers. In a city like Mankato where manufacturing industries are already assuming such large proportions, although as yet but in their infancy, such an institution as this must be one of the most vital importance and fortunate enough is the city to possess it under a management not only able financially to meet all business requirements, but alive to their necessity, and ready to adapt their manufacturing to all demands, regardless of the amount or class of work desired. During 1883 the company have turned out over $23,000 worth of work and have employed nineteen men. The coming year’s business bids fair to be much in excess of last season’s, and their works have been somewhat enlarged, the necessary wood shop having been put on the ground floor. The company have $30,000 cash capital all paid up, and are officered as follows: President, J. A. James; secretary and treasurer, R. Roberts; superintendent, H. K. Lee. It is decidedly a home institution, having been founded and being now operated wholly upon home capital. The perfection and excellence of their work is rapidly building up something more than a purely local trade, and orders from adjoining towns are of frequent occurrence.
Mankato Boiler Works. This institution, a very necessary adjunct to such an establishment as the one just described, is located upon an adjoining lot, and was established March, 1883, by J. D. Harding & Co., for the manufacture of steam engine boilers. During the season they turned out ten new large boilers at a cash value of $10,000, among which were the boilers for the Mankato cement works and other city manufacturing establishments and several shipped to adjoining towns, besides a large amount of repairing which they have turned out as circumstances have required. They employ an average force of about fifteen men and are the beginning of an establishment which one day will be of no small local importance. Mankato Cooperage. With the establishment of so many manufacturing concerns and lines of business at Mankato using upward of a million barrels, casks, kegs and tubs annually and with such an inexhaustible and excellent supply of all woods necessary to their construction close at hand in it no matter of wonder that the cooperage of the city has already assumed very large proportions although like many other industries still new.
With flouring mills in operation the year round with a capacity of from 800 to 1,000 barrels per day, the cement works at present using 700 per day during their season, the egg trade and other industries a large number, and the butter trade an innumerable number of tubs and cooperage ought to be a good and very prominent business. One of the most important concerns in this line of manufactory in Mankato as well as in Minnesota is that of Messrs. Woodward and Marsh and is known as the Mankato Butter Tub Factory. This institution now owned and operated under the firm name of Woodard & Marsh, was started by W. W. Woodard in August, 1882. Noting the rapid tendency toward dairying in the southwest and perceiving at once that some sort of package or receptacle in which to store and ship butter must be provided
Page 3. he conceived the idea of establishing a butter tub factory, and began at once in a moderate way to carry out his scheme. Finding the business lucrative, and the demand increasing rapidly, he sold his interest in the Mankato Free Press, of which he was half owner and editor, and associating with him in his new line of business C. H. Marsh, they at once began to spread out and develop their business. From so very modest a beginning they have developed with the most wonderful rapidity until they have astonished themselves and every one else. During 1883 they manufactured 30,000 butter tubs, 3,000 pork barrels besides a large amount of other cooperage. They are at present employing about sixty-five men and will keep an average force of fifty the entire year. They expect to manufacture 125,000 butter tubs and firkins the coming year and will cut 2,000 cords of basswood bolts into flour barrel headings which is also one of the specialties of their manufacture. They turn out a very superior class of goods which not only supply the entire home market but are shipped all over the country, east, west, north and south.
Their new machine for making butter tubs with a capacity for the manufacture of 300 tubs every ten hours, works nicely and another will probably be added, while a still larger number will be made by hand. They have two saws with a capacity for sawing fourteen cords of basswood bolts into flour barrel heading each ten hours, and a full set of heading machinery capable of making 2,000 complete sets each day. Their main building, 24x110 feet, has been enlarged from time to time by the erection of shops and sheds until they cover a large space and begin to assume proportions that are surprising. They have put in a dry kiln of 25x40 feet in extent and have a twenty-five horse power engine made by the Mankato Manufacturing company and a forty horse power boiler made by J. H. Harding & Co., to furnish the necessary motive power and steam for the drying kiln. Thus an important industry which converts the natural resources of the adjoining forests into most necessary and useful articles of merchandise has quietly sprung up and has assumed proportions of very great importance among the industries of this busy city.
A. G. Richards, who operates an extensive cooperage establishment on Front street employes (employs) some sixteen men and has turned out the past season over 40,000 barrels, kegs, casks and tubs of a cash value of $18,570, which will be largely increased the coming season. Mr. Wm. Pearson, who manufactures for the big mill, made during last year 35,000 barrels, of a cash value of $16,800. He employs about twelve men, and does all his work by hand. Various other small establishments when combined help to swell the grand total, which must be largely augmented to keep pace with the increased demand, which creates and sustains this influential industry. Furniture. The establishment of John Kline, the most extensive of any in his line in Minnesota outside of St. Paul and Minneapolis, while he does not wholesale largely to retail dealers his sales to hotels and outfits for large residences shipped to all points in southern Minnesota and Dakota, and to northern Iowa, makes his establishment rank as one of the greatest public interests. Its sales rooms are upon the four floors of his fine block on First street, which is 22x157 ½ feet. His shops, 34x40, three floors are occupied, the first as an upholstery, the second as a repair shop, while the third is used for finishing off furniture. In another building 28x100 feet and two stories high, the manufacture of bank, office and very fine saloon furniture is carried on, which latter class of goods are shipped all over this section of country. Over 20,000 square feet of flooring is used as shop and warehouse by Mr. Kline, who has been twenty-nine years in his line of business, employs sixteen men and it is entirely superfluous to add from his stock any hotel or residence, no matter its capacity, can be fitted out with any grade of goods they may desire.
Canning Factory. Mr. J. B. Hodaff having looked into the business of canning vegetables somewhat, concluded to embark in the business and accordingly purchased a two story brick building in upper town, formerly used as a fanning mill factory 40x80 feet in size, with a small engine attached, which he proceeded to at once turn into a canning factory. Five-hundred cases of corn, peas and string-beans were put up last season and find ready sale at remunerative prices and turn out very fine. Mr. Hodaff is at present engage in manufacturing two car loads of tin, which will make 150,000 cans, which he will put up the coming season. He has all the necessary machinery for operating his factory to advantage, and expects to employ, during the working season, which extends from the middle of July until heavy frosts come, from thirty to forty girls and women and from eight to twelve men. The establishment of this factory and the inauguration of this branch of business as yet unknown to Minnesota is but the beginning of an industry which will prove to be not only very remunerative but extensive. The vicinity of Mankato with its sheltered nooks and quick porous soils is especially adapted to the production of corn and other vegetables suitable for canning and the more thorough and profitable cultivation of land of but little value for wheat and coarse crops will follow.
Paint Works. Manderfield & Payne, painters, glaziers, added a grinding and mixing department, which, besides preparing what they used in their own business, furnished a large amount for sale; 50,000 gallons were thus ground and mixed, and so gratifying were the results of their business, that the coming season they will enlarge their facilities by the erection of a building of three floors, 24x60 feet. They employed fifteen to twenty men last year, which force will be largely increased this year. Woolen Mill. The Mankato woolen mill, built in 1866 by Jacob Bierbaum and now owned by Chris. Rose, is operated during about eight months of the year. At present it consumes about 150 pounds of wool per day, or about 30,000 pounds per year. All this institution needs to make it a profitable investment is the addition of the necessary amount of capital to relieve it from embarrassment. The goods now produced are of first rate quality and find ready sale.
Mankato Brewery. This establishment owned and operated by Wm. Bierbauer, has a yearly capacity for 7,000 barrels of beer. His buildings are all of a most substantial nature being built entirely of brick and stone are located upon the side of the bluff in lower town and loom up in the distance like some feudal castle of the old world; albeit they are of modern architecture and are built for business and residence rather than as stronghold to resist the attacks of the enemy. The buildings aside from his residence consist of a refrigerator building 24x56 and three stories high, the upper one being used for ice, while the two lower are for the summer storage of beer. Upon the lower side of the street which separates the refrigerator and house buildings from the brewery and malt houses, are two other cellars 24x40 and 24x38, beneath his residence. The brewery is 24x48, flanked by one building 24x38 and another 24x78 used for motive power and malt floors. A new malt house 50x51 two stories high is nearly completed, which will enable the manufacturer to make all of his own malt. For winter storage he has three cellars 17x49 feet in the clear dug from the top down and arched over and then covered again with earth. The buildings are all built with an eye to a complete and perfect institution where convenience and durability unite.
Boot and Shoe Manufactory. This institution with Griebel & Bro., proprietors, occupies a building on Front street 22x115 feet as shop and sale room. They manufacture entirely for the home market, but employ sixteen hands and find their business increasing continually. Carriage Works. In this line two factories are in operation, each of which does a very satisfactory though not extensive business. That of A. M. Smith, known as the Mankato carriage works, having been established and operated eighteen years. A full line of buggies, carriages and wagons are always on hand for sale. H. P. Jensen. This gentleman, also engaged in the manufacture and sale of carriages, wagons and sleighs, established his business in 1872. His factory is 22x88 feet, with wing 14x22, all two stories high. General blacksmithing, trimming, painting, and repairing are carried on. Mr. Jensen has grown into his present business firm from a simple journeyman, and deserves his present success. Planing Mill. This institution, owned and operated by Charles Foster, turns out a large amount of work, and also includes the manufacture of sash, doors and blinds. Last year it turned out $10,000 worth of work. Saw Mill. A steam saw mill, owned and operated by Henry Boegan, finds employment a large part of the time in cutting lumber mainly for manufacturing purposes from the splendid native timber of the adjoining forests, embracing oak, elm, basswood, ash, butternut, black walnut and other woods.
Mankato Dry Plate Company. This institution recently established here is for the manufacture of plates used in the new system of instantaneous photography now coming into general use everywhere. The company are at present occupying small quarters, but are turning out about $10,000 worth of work which capacity will be very much increased by the erection of a factory of their own the coming season. Commercial. I now follow with a brief review of the wholesale establishments of which Mankato is at present possessed, which although not as numerous or extensive as those of larger and more wealthy districts, yet are a nucleous (nucleus) around which in time a large wholesale business will grow up. The splendid railroad facilities with which the city is furnished and the east and rapidity with which neighboring cities can be supplied from her wholesale establishments is a guarantee that a very large portion of the business now seeking a much more distant source of supply must eventually come here. Mankato as a wholesale point may not be of much importance in the eyes of the wealthy wholesale men of the larger cities, but she has a class of men for citizens who do not hesitate to enter any legitimate field.
Wholesale Druggists. The firm known as Moore, Piper & Co., who have heretofore been engaged in the carbon and lubricating oil trake (trade), and who during the year 1883 handled 6,000 barrels of these goods besides 300 barrels of linseed oil, representing over 120 car loads, have recently opened a wholesale drug house in conjunction with their oil trade, which they still continue, and which with their paint and linseed oil trade will be made a specialty. The active business management of this concern will be in the hands of Mr. E. A. Moore, who has had ten years’ experience in the wholesale drug trade. They handle the Standard Oil company’s goods and will do an absolute and exclusive wholesale trade. The firm is an exceptionally strong one, being composed of men of both large capital and extensive business experience, and will be at once able to take up a good trade. They have two floors and basement on Front street, 22x60 feet, occupied as office, work and sale rooms, a warehouse near the Chicago & N. W. depot, 34x70 and one near the Southern Minnesota depot 22x70 and may fairly be said to be one of the most important institutions in the wholesale line yet established. Wholesale Liquors. Mr. P. H. Carney may be said to be the pioneer in the wholesale business in Mankato, having been engaged for the past eleven years in dealing in wines, liquors, cigars, bar and saloon fixtures and who has always done a most successful business keeping two traveling salesmen upon the road constantly. He occupies a two-story and basement store upon Front street 22x100 feet in extent.
Pork Packing House. The firm of Long, Shabut & Co. embarked in this business the past season, and as a starter bought and packed 3,000 head of hogs. As this city is located much nearer the great northwestern territory of consumption than Chicago they have been enabled to pay better prices than if bought for shipment there. Their preparations to meet another season’s business will be equal to all of its demands. Wholesale Groceries. In this line Mr. John A. Samborn established himself in 1882 and has gradually increased his operations, ever since which have shown the most satisfactory results. He has two traveling salesmen upon the road and extends his business along the lines of the Winona & St. Peter railroad as far as the end of the main line and on the Dakota Central to Pierre, along the Sioux City, and along the southern Minnesota line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul to its western terminus. Mr. Sanbourn will double the capacity of his business the coming season, being well satisfied that Mankato is a good point at which to build up a wholesale business. His present quarters consist of four floors 50x100 feet in extent which will be enlarged as circumstance may require. Patterson, Zimmerman & Hatfield. These gentlemen have secured quarters and will open upon the 1st of April a wholesale grocery house with abundant capital and will furnish employment to about twenty-five men. Mr. Zimmerman is a gentlemen of large experience in the wholesale grocery line and the advent of this firm, representing as they do a very large capital, will give a boom to the wholesale business of Mankato.
W. B. Straight & Co. This firm, whose headquarters are at Hudson, Ohio, have been operating quite extensively for the past year in southern Minnesota, having built and operated creameries at Redwood Falls, Marshall, Owatonna, St. Charles and Farmington, and who contemplate the erection of one or two more the coming season. They have purchased the Cold Storage warehouse, built by W. T. Mills, covering an area of 44x80 feet, two stories high, with basement containing a cooling room modeled upon the famous Stevens cooler patent, which contains a capacity for 3,000 packages of butter, or about seven or eight car loads at a time. The purchase of this warehouse locates the headquarters of this company at Mankato, where Mr. C. D. Vernon, manager, will be in charge. They expect to handle eggs and to store butter from their several factories during seasons when it is not profitable to ship. The five factories now in operation make from 400 to 1,000 pounds daily. The headquarters of this company being made here is a matter of no little importance. The company have an abundance of capital, and will operate as extensively as occasion may require. W. T. Mills. This gentleman, who operated in butter and eggs in the building just sold to W. B. Straight & Co. last summer, will also operate the coming year and will arrange quarters to suit the demands of his business.
Butter and Eggs. One of the most important and extensive business interests, and one which is being rapidly developed into large proportions, is the butter and egg trade. Ever since the grasshopper scourge first caused the farmers of southwestern Minnesota to turn their attention to a system of mixed farming, in which the cow and fowls played a strong part the handling of butter and eggs in large quantities has been made an exclusive business by one or more firms. During last year two concerns, one of them that of W. T. Mills, who built a large cool storage warehouse recently purchased by W. B. Straight & Co., and that known as J. H. Long & Co., have both dealt heavily in these commodities, the latter firm adding poultry and game. The firm of J. H. Long & Co., began business in their present line in 1879, and have increased the volume of their trade from year to year until they reached an expenditure upon last season of $300,000. Early in the course of their business career they discovered the necessity for cold storage and during the season of 18 – they erected a large refrigerator building upon the McCrary patent 40x130 feet in extent, which gave them the most ample facilities for handling their goods in a safe and secure manner. The building contains a receiving room 10 by 40 upon one side of which is their main storage room 40x100 feet, while upon the other are two poultry or game freezing rooms 20 feet square, where those products can be kept in a completely frozen state as long as desired in the warmest weather. The refrigeration of the large storage room is most complete and the contents are absolutely dry. Those most complete and necessary facilities render the safe handling of butter, eggs, poultry and game perfectly feasible and the large sum expended by them last year signifies their success. Their preparations for the coming season’s business are being made with a view of its being very greatly increased. A branch house is already in operation at Albert Lea and another will be established the coming season at Owatoma.
Public Buildings. Besides churches and educational buildings Mankato City has a very fine city hall building three stories high, a county jail and office buildings and the usual number of hotels of which the Mankato house, City hotel, Clifton house, Washington hotel, American house, Minnesota house and Union house are the prinicipal. Operate House. On the night of January 17, 1882, the fine brick structure known as the Mankato Opera house, a building 62 by 135 feet took fire and was entirely gutted. The walls which were of a very substantial nature were uninjured and withstood the fierce wind storm of last summer without a single brace or support in their entire length. Just prior to the late session of the Northwestern Dairymen’s convention the owners, Messrs. Manderfeld, Bierbauer & Griebel, proposed to the board of trade, who were proposing to erect a wigwam for the accommodation of the dairymen to put the Opera house in shape and allow them to use it, which was accordingly done through the liberality of the citizens, whose contributions for the wigwam were very wisely applied for this purpose. The owners now propose to remodel the interior upon the plan of the Grand Opera house at St. Paul, seating with opera chairs and with stage, drop curtain, scenery and all of the appurtenances of a first class Opera house. The arrangements already under way give a stage 45x60 feet and an auditorium 60x90 and 30 feet high. The Parquette and Parquette circle are to contain 700 upholstered opera chairs while the gallery will contain 800 perforated opera chairs. To the right and left of the stage are two proseenium boxes one above the other which will be tastefully arranged and draped.
At each stage entrance will be a small dressing room while at the rear of the stage are several more. There are two rear stage exits while at the right and left of the stage, just within the auditorium, is an exit, each with the door fastened with a hook that any child could open, to be used in case of any emergency, while the gallery is also to be supplied with one fire escape stair, besides the usual front exits. The box office will be at the main entrance on Second street with cloak rooms on either side. The seenie artist is now at work upon the scenery, and if the local aid expected, is furnished the house will be completed in two months ready for use. The completion of an opera house at this time with a seating capacity of 1,800, with all that appertains to an institution of this character, and which completed upon the plans and specifications adopted will make it one of the finest houses in the west, is of course a step in advance of the present status of the city, and will not at once be a remunerative investment for its owners. To accomplish so desirable an end, and one which will contribute so largely to the advancement of the interests of the city, the liberality of each public-spirited citizen will be appealed to, and the response should and will meet the expectations of the owners, and the early completion of this structure result. The basement of the building has been fitted up as an immense roller skating rink and is now open to the public.
Union Hall. This structure, a handsome brick building with basement 42x82 feet in extent and furnished with stage and scenery, is well adapted for dance parties and general entertainments. It has 525 chairs which when removed furnish a magnificent dancing floor. The main entrance is flanked by box offices, cloak rooms, etc., while the basement has kitchen and dining rooms where suppers are served to parties of any number desired. Its Churches. Mankato has twelve, the thirteenth, a Welch church having been recently destroyed by fire, and they are as follows: Sweedish (Swedish) Lutheran two, Norsk Luthernan (Lutheran) one, Christian, Episcopal, Congregational, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, German Lutheran and Welch. Some of the buildings are elegant structures and all are well supported. Educational Institutions. Mankato is one of the finest educational cities in Minnesota not only as regards the number and variety of its schools and colleges, but in the degree of their excellence. The Second Normal, Catholic College, City High school – city ward schools and German parochial school afford educational advantages unsurpassed by any other locality.
Second Normal School. One of the most important institutions which Mankato possesses of any name or nature is her normal school. This is a state institution established upon the same general plan as the one at Winona and at St. Cloud but by virtue of its location becomes at once an institution of the city and of which the city feels proud. It is under the following faculty: Edward Searing, president, mental science, school economy and Latin. Jas. T. McCleary, institute conductor, penmanship and accounts. Adolph F. Bechdolt, physical science. Helen M. Phillips, mathematics and English literature. Defransa A. Swann, drawing, theory and practice of teaching and geography. Anna McCutcheon, English language and history. Mary E. Hutcheson, vocal music, elocution, reading and calisthenics. Eliza A. Cheyney, director of the model school and critic teacher. Charity N. Green, assistant, grammar department, model school. M. Ada Holton, assistant, intermediate department, model school. Nellie M. Lewis, assistant, primary department, model school. The objects of this school, like its compeers, is "a course of special instruction in the science and art of teaching." It consists of two departments, the normal and the model departments. In the normal department there are two courses, one of three years, known as the elementary course, and one of four years, or the advanced course. The model department consists of three grades: Primary, intermediate and grammar, and is intended to afford the student a practical illustration of the art of teaching. The building stands upon a natural terrace overlooking the city and the valley of the Minnesota. It is built of Mankato brick, trimmed with Mankato stone, and is a neat and imposing structure. It has a capacity for about 600 pupils, and has an enrollment at present of 550.
Catholic College. The Catholic college under the management of the Rev. Father Schnitzler is in a flourishing condition, being nearly full and having a capacity of about 400 students. It has an English as well as a German course, and like all institutions of its class its system of instruction is a most thorough one. It is located upon the same natural terrace as the Normal school building near the Catholic church, and presents a grand and very imposing appearance. City Schools. The city schools of Mankato are organized under a special charter which provides for a president and a board of education composed of two members from each of the four wards of the city. There are three school buildings known as the "Union," "Pleasant Grove" and "Franklin" schools. As is always the case in a growing city like Mankato, the present accommodations are entirely too small and a new building to be located in west Mankato, where there are at present over two hundred children enrolled, is soon to be built, preparations having been made to secure the necessary site. The schools are under the management of Prof. W. F. Gorrie, formely (formerly) of Stillwater, superintendent, assisted by a corps of twenty teachers. The schools are well graded and the Franklin school has a high school department with a four years’ course, from which pupils are fitted for the Sophmore (Sophomore) year at the State University. The present enrollment at this department, which is under the immediate charge of Superintendent Gorrie is sixty-two, while the total enrollment of the city for the past year has been 1,145.
Mankato having the Normal must, of course, have a superior system of city schools to be appreciated, and it is a source of gratification to the citizens that the standard has been raised so high as to command the admiration of the best educators who have examined them, and it is not too much to say that they will compare favorably with any in the state. The primary grades are reduced to the half day plan, which has been found to work most admirably. The high school department has a very fine and well selected library of 1,500 volumes, and a (labratory) laboratory of chemical and philosophical apparatus with which the students are taught to make personal experiments. The old school readers have been entirely discarded in the city schools and historical readers substituted, and all advanced ideas are adopted as soon as demonstrated beneficial. Banks. Mankato has two national and one private bank. The First National organized in August, 1868, with a cash capital of $75,000, and is officered as follows: J. A. Willard, president; Stephen Lamm, vice president; George H. Clark, cashier. The Citizens’ National bank was established July, 1872, and John F. Meagher is president; Daniel Buck, vice president; W. G. Hoerr, cashier. The cash capital is $70,000.
City Bank. This bank is a private banking institution, owned by Messrs. Lewis, Shaubut & Barr. It is the oldest banking institution in southwestern Minnesota, having been established in 1866. Mr. Geo. T. Barr is cashier or manager, and the large private wealth of the owners is all the guarantee the depositors wish. The two national banks are also owned by men of very large capital and mercantile responsibilities. Gas Light Co. This institution made is appearance in Mankato last summer, and put in a very substantial and permanent works, calculated to supply a city of from fifteen to twenty thousand people. They are present supply 40 street lights, 125 business houses, all public buildings, including the Catholic church and college, city hall and county buildings, and many private residences. The company feel well satisfied with their success and find their future prospects very encouraging. The present season a larger number of street lamps ought to be provided, and as the city grows their business must grow with it. The company is under the management of O. C. McCurdy, Esq. Water Works. The city is supplied for fire purposes and private use from a plant located in the engine room of the Mankato or big flouring mill, acting upon the Holly principle of direct pressure. The supply is drawn from the Minnesota river, through a twelve inch suction pripe (pipe), through an immense force pump capable of discharging 2,300,000 gallons every twenty-four hours. The engine which operates the pump is supplied with steam from the boilers of the mill and the pump can also be operated by the mill engine.
Fire Department. The fire department of Mankato is a volunteer organization, consisting of two hose companies and one hook and ladder company of twenty members each. The organization contains only active members and is one of the most efficient in the state. Each hose company has two carts and the department has three stations, the central one where the hook-and-ladder truck and two hose carts are stationed being at the City Hall, while upper and lower town have each a hose cart at their several stations. There are nearly three miles of water mains laid along Front and Third streets with thirty dydrants (hydrants) or fire plugs attached. The department find no difficulty in throwing a stream over the Normal school building or Catholic college, and when promptly summoned will drown any ordinary or possible blaze on short order. They have 2,000 feet of hose, and the entire department is under the best of discipline. It is officered as follows: B. D. Pay, chief engineer; J. A. Samborn, first assistant engineer; John Switzer, second assistant engineer. Board of Trade. The Mankato board of trade was organized on September 16, 1868. Its fossilized remains were discovered by a citizens’ committee resulting from a meeting of citizens called at the office of M. G. Willard, April 11, 1882, and after mutual discussion and concessions the old name and organization were adopted and an election of officers and directors held, which developed some younger and new blood and from its late lethargy, the Mankato board of trade awoke to life and action for its city.
It awoke to find that the city possessed all and more than the necessary elements to make a great city – geographical position, productive soil surrounding her, diversified country contiguous adapted to all kinds of agriculture, railroads reaching out in six separate directions into the country, the greatest and most varied natural resources in her rock, timber, clay and sand, and manufacturing and wholesale establishments, but the forerunners of a vast manufacturing and commercial industry. The board awoke and the new blood infused into its Rip Van Winkle carcass soon made itself felt, and began to open the portals of its industries and to enthuse its people with the idea that they had the most promising city in all southern Minnesota. The city is much indebted for its present grand prosperity to the men whose capital and solid assistance has planted and sustained its many flourishing manufacturing and commercial institutions and all honor to them, but to the live, wide awake, young men who took hold of the Mankato board of trade, when the city was paralyzed almost and by wise and vigorous measures instilled into the minds of the people the belief that their city was destined for better things and through whose instrumentality new enterprises were brought here and latent resources developed, too much praise cannot be bestowed. Through their energy and perseverance the sessions of the Northwestern Dairymen’s association for 1883 and 4 have been held here, bringing with them incalculable good to the entire southern part of the state, where the deplorable effects of a system of exclusive wheat raising had almost bankrupted its people.
The officers of the Mankato board of trade are as follows: President – John C. Noe. First Vice president – F. L. Waters. Second Vice president – John Kline. Secretary – M. G. Willard. Treasurer – J. N. Hal. It has a membership of 125, every one of them live men, and has a board of directors who transact general business. Its meeting are held the first Monday in each month and their influence is felt in the general awakening of the community. Civil Societies. Of these Mankato possesses the usual number are here enumerated. Masonic. The stated meetings in each month are as follows: Mankato Lodge No. 12, A. F. and A. M., second and fourth Saturday. Blue Earth Chapter No. 7, Royal Arch Masons, first Tuesday. Mankato Commandery No. 4, Knights Templar, third Tuesday. Cereal Chapter No. 2, Order of Eastern Star, second and fourth Wednesday. I. O. O. F. Mankato lodge No. 15, every Monday evening. Encampment, second and fourth Friday of each month. A. O. U. W. Mankato lodge No. 27 meets on the first and third Wednesday evenings of each month, at Odd Fellows’ hall. Knights of Honor. Knights of Honor, No. 2,053, hold their meeting, first and third Saturday evenings of each month, at their hall. Grand Army of the Republic. Alex. Wilkin post No. 19, G. A. R., Mankato, Minn., meets every first and third Wednesday of each month.
Butter Board of Trade. As an outgrowth of the two successive annual sessions of the Northwestern Dairyman’s association, which has been held in Mankato, may be mentioned the above named institution, which is fairly launched and is the beginning of great things, it is confidently believed for the dairying interests of Mankato. The organization which was effected on Feb. 26 resulted in the following board of directors and officers. Directors- M. G. Willard, Mankato; A. P. McKinstry, Winnebago City; C. G. Spaulding; Mapleton; E. C. Huntington, Windom; J. A. Curryer, Mankato. Officers – M. G. Willard, President; J. C. Noe, Secretary; J. A. Willard, Treasurer. Wednesday, March 26th is to be the first sale day, after which meetings are to be held each successive Monday. The vast and growing importance of the dairying interests of southern Minnesota dictate the employment of such agencies as these for the creation of a uniform standard of dairy products and the creation of a name and a market for them. The great benefits derived from the Elgin, Illinois, Butter board of trade have become well known and are duly appreciated, and it is to be hoped that its offspring now established at Mankato may be the means of just as much benefit to the section which it will reach.
Southern Minnesota Fair and Live Stock Association. This association just organized under the general law and located here will soon file its articles of incorporation, having elected the following officers: President, F. N. Merrill; vice president, P. H. Carney; recording secretary, H. Himmelmann; financial secretary, B. F. Hutchinson; treasurer, W. G. Harre. The management of the association is vested in a board of nine directors, who have leased very desirable grounds near the city and will erect the necessary fences and buildings for a fall exhibition. The capital stock is limited to $20,000, and indebtedness to $5,000. The shares of capital stock are placed at $25 each, which is being rapidly taken and as it is in the hands of live men it will be a live institution.
Conclusion. I have thus in a brief and very superficial way endeavored to write the material interests of Mankato but to those acquainted with this flourishing city, the queen of southern Minnesota and the key to its future importance in our commonwealth, it must seems as a most presumptuous undertaking. A city of 7,500 people, located at the most natural point to command the business of southwestern Minnesota with its railroad connections far better than those of any other point in the state except St. Paul with its wealth of natural resources for excelling those of any other point in the state, with its manufacturing institutions springing into life and activity and with its commercial interests fairly started on their way and there is so much that might be said of Mankato that a short newspaper article like this is entirely too brief in which to write it. Enough, however, has been said to show to the world that Mankato is the most desirable location for manufacturing or wholesaling which this great territory south of the state capital furnishes, and with its splendid schools and public institutions, its fine society, its healthful location, and its grand opportunities for amassing wealth, and no argument is necessary to convince the world at large of its desirability as a home. The death rate at this city is but 9 to the 1,000, which when compared with such places as Minneapolis ought to be enough to decide any one who wishes a home where health is the lot of all to locate. In closing this sketch I would again call attention to the fact that Mankato has before it a future which is as yet but merely outlined and will utter the prediction which I hope to live to see verified, that 1890 will see Mankato a city of 50,000 inhabitants, the third city in Minnesota in wealth, population and influence. (The Saint Paul Daily Globe, Wednesday Morning, March 5, 1884, Volume VII, Number 65, Page 2)