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Morton is located in the beautiful Minnesota valley in the southeastern part of Birch Cooley township, surrounded by the historic ground on which were enacted some of the most stirring scenes in the history of the Northwest. Nature here is unusually lovely, the rolling prairie not far away, ending abruptly and breaking into beautiful coulees and ravines heavily wooded and forming a wide expanse or natural park.
The village itself is well laid out on a flat, overlooked by the towering monuments erected to the friendly Indians and to the heroes of the battles of Birch Cooley. The picturesque contour
of the waterworks tank situated nearby also adds to the beauty of the scene.
It is situated a hundred miles southwest of Minneapolis and thirty-three miles west of Winthrop and is the division point on the M. & St. L. [Minneapolis & St. Louis] Railway, and here is located the roundhouse. It is also on the new Luce Electric Short Line Railway, which is
in process of building from Minneapolis to Brookings, and which will furnish short hauls for the people of Morton to the Twin City markets.
Surrounded, as it is, by the rich farm land of two counties, Morton is a scene of busy activities. Corn yields of over ninety bushels per acre show that this county is coming to the front, and the fine thoroughbred and dairy cattle herds with excellent shipping facilities give proof of its permanency. In former days a splendid fair was given here, but the withdrawal of state aid caused it to be discontinued.
Anyone who loves beautiful hills and the rugged natural scenery will surely enjoy living at or near Morton. The Minnesota valley for miles near this village is one continual park and some of the prettiest spots it is possible to find anywhere will be seen in a day's outing at this place. The spreading panorama of green fields and fertile valley, running streams and natural woods which one sees all about are sights one cannot help but enjoy, and a number of persons have compared the region with the Hudson valley and with other places of note, while others from prairie states have contented themselves with simply gazing in open admiration and exclamations of delight. This has been particularly true of the Iowa visitors.
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Another point of interest to tourists is the site of the granite quarries, where years ago in the early history of the village several hundred quarrymen were busily engaged taking out building and monumental stone.
One can drive out from Morton either way and witness beauties of nature which in other sections of the United States people with automobiles would drive days to see.
Going south from Morton, the lace makers' house, the Indian Episcopal church and the Indian school will be seen to the right hand, while on the left is the Indian park, from which one of the prettiest views of the whole Minnesota valley may be obtained.
Going out north from Morton, one will see the stone markers which mark the historic spots in connection with the Sioux Indian massacre days and the Birch Cooley battle ground.
When visitors are at the Indian church, south of town, if they will go a quarter mile south and a mile east they will then see the old stone house of early agency and massacre days, and all along the highway will be seen markers recording the historic spots of that territory.
From the depot at Morton may be seen the two granite shafts, one erected in memory of the soldiers and others killed in the Birch Cooley battle and the other erected in memory of the friendly Indians. These stand near the fair grounds, overlooking the valley and the Morton granite quarries.
Morton has a flour mill with a daily capacity of 500 barrels wheat flour and fifty barrels rye products. It has a brick and tile factory with a capacity in a ten-hour day of 40,000 brick and 30,000 tile. Vast deposits of excellent granite for building purposes and ornamental stone are found in abundance.
The village has a good opera house, a moving picture theater, four hotels, two banks, a creamery and ice cream factory, a farmers' co-operative elevator and a thriving stock shippers' association.
A weekly newspaper, the Morton "Enterprise," is published. There are four churches: German Lutheran, Methodist Episcopal, Roman Catholic and Protestant Episcopal.
The public schools are housed in an excellent building and include eight grades, with high school, manual training and domestic science departments, each under competent teachers and supervision.
The fraternities are well represented here, there being flourishing lodges of the Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Workmen, the Woodmen, the Rebekahs, the Degree of Honor, the Catholic Foresters and the Lady Foresters.
Source:
The History of Renville County Minnesota
Volume II
Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
H. C. Cooper Jr. & Company, Chicago, 1916