MCHS Receives Legacy Grant for Digital Access Project

Posted on January 27, 2012 by mchs| Leave a comment

Clean Water, Land & Legacy Amendment Logo

The Morrison County Historical Society is pleased to announce that it has received a Legacy grant through the Minnesota Historical & Cultural Grant program administered by the Minnesota Historical Society.

The $11,090 grant will be used to provide the public with digital access to a wide variety of Morrison County history resources at The Charles A. Weyerhaeuser Memorial Museum.

A digital microfilm reader will be purchased that will allow researchers to view and print county newspapers available on microfilm at the museum. There are microfilmed newspapers from at least eight Morrison County communities within the Historical Society’s collection. In addition, MCHS has county census records from 1865 through 1930 on microfilm that can be accessed using the new digital reader.

The digital microfilm reader has a number of advanced features in comparison to traditional microfilm readers that will provide users with an enhanced experience, including optimum readability, cropping of documents, and printing and saving functions.

MCHS’s Digital Access Project will also include the purchase of a computer for the public to use at the Weyerhaeuser Museum to access the many Morrison County history resources online. The Morrison County Historical Society’s website, which has three sections, contains over 480 blog posts, over 210 pages, over 55 downloadable files, and over 450 images. In addition, MCHS has a collection of digitized items at the Minnesota Digital Library’s website Minnesota Reflections. There are many other online resources that contain information relevant to Morrison County’s history that researchers will be able to access through this public computer.

The Digital Access to Morrison County History Resources project will take place over the next six or seven months. We’ll keep you posted as it moves along.

Thank you to the taxpayers of Minnesota, the Historic Resources Advisory Committee, and the Minnesota Historical Society for this opportunity to increase the availability of Morrison County history .

Posted in charles a. weyerhaeuser memorial museum, funding, history, mchs, minnesota, morrison county, morrison county historical society, museum, news, project, technology

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Collections Carousel – Royalton Schools

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Ann Marie| Leave a comment

High School, Royalton, Minn. Circa 1930

This photo postcard shows a view of three school buildings in Royalton, Minnesota.  The oldest building is in the front and was built in 1890 to replace a two-story wood frame school that had burned the year before.  According to Frank B. Logan in his book, Historical Sketches of Royalton and Vicinity (1930), “(t)he building was occupied until 1889, when it caught fire from a defective chimney at the noon hour and was completely destroyed.”  Until the new brick school was built the following year, classes were held at the Presbyterian church and in an unoccupied store.  The second oldest structure (back-left) was constructed a few years later and served as the high school until 1911, when the third structure (back-right) was built.  The three buildings were torn down in 1974 by two local residents, Les Benusa and Victor Oelrich.  The present Royalton elementary school was constructed in 1963 and the high school was built in 1970.

Posted in architecture, archives, bellevue, charles a. weyerhaeuser memorial museum, Collections Carousel, education, history, mchs, minnesota, morrison county, morrison county historical society, museum, photos, postcard, research, school

Collections Carousel – Z. N. Barnes, Travelling Photographer

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Ann Marie| Leave a comment

Lester Park Bridge - Duluth, Minnesota. Circa 1910

This recently identified photograph by local businessman, Z. N. Barnes (1859-1943), shows a view of a picturesque bridge over the Lester River in Lester Park on the eastern edge of Duluth, Minnesota.  The photo belongs to a set of unidentified scenes from a photo album compiled by  Barnes.  Well-traveled, Barnes put together other photograph albums showing his adventures across the country, including scenes of a steamboat voyage and of a trip to the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri.  The Lester River bridge was built in 1898 by Civil War veteran, John Busha, with the help of his sons, Abraham and George.  The elaborate rustic-style structure was constructed of unpeeled cedar logs and included carvings of Ojibwe designs.  The upper deck of the bridge was removed in 1916 due to safety concerns.  The lower deck was removed in 1931.

Z. N. Barnes moved to Little Falls in 1895 to work for the Pine Tree Lumber Company (PTLCo.).  In 1907, he and two other PTLCo. employees began the Morrison County Lumber Company, a retail lumber and wood business.  After resigning in 1920, Barnes opened his own fuel supply business in Little Falls selling wood and coal.  One of the first automobile owners in the county, this photograph may have been taken by Barnes during an automobile tour in northern Minnesota with his family.  For more information on Z. N. Barnes see Morrison County Influentials.

Posted in art, business, charles a. weyerhaeuser memorial museum, Collections Carousel, culture, family, genealogy, history, little falls, mchs, minnesota, morrison county, morrison county historical society, museum, photos

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Dewey Radke House Mugs Available

Posted on December 30, 2011 by mchs| Leave a comment

When the Dewey-Radke House was demolished in August this year (2011), Jan Warner, MCHS Executive Director, remembered that a local artist had donated a watercolor of the home to the collections of the Weyerhaeuser Museum.

Staff located the watercolor, which was painted by Dennis Vanderpoel in 1981. The large painting shows two views of the house, the front and back sides, plus an artistic label. Below is a photo of the painting.

Dewey-Radke House, watercolor by Dennis Vanderpoel, 1981

Dewey-Radke House, watercolor by Dennis Vanderpoel, 1981

Because the painting wasn’t officially accessioned when it was donated, a few phone calls with Dennis ensued and he and Jan came up with a plan to have coffee mugs created from the painting.

Due to the size of the painting, the entire image could not be scanned at once, but instead had to be scanned in sections, with the images stitched together to create something appropriate for a mug.

Here’s the final product:

Dewey-Radke House mug, 3 views showing how the image wrap around the mug, 2011

Dewey-Radke House mug, 3 views showing how the image wraps around the mug, 2011

These mugs are now for sale at the Weyerhaeuser Museum. The cost is $12 per mug (tax included). This is a limited edition mug, so snap yours up while you can.

Posted in art, charles a. weyerhaeuser memorial museum, gift shop, history, mchs, minnesota, morrison county, morrison county historical society, museum, photos, weyerhaeuser

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Lakeland Public TV Features Save the Pierz Journals

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Mary| Leave a comment

On December 7, Becky Parker of Lakeland Public Television visited the museum in order to interview Ann Marie and I about our Save the Pierz Journals project. The segment aired last night, but if you missed it, you can view it on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvYe1FzLnJM&context=C3e2127cADOEgsToPDskImf8EgbcLmb0YJnfQ8DvTu

We’re very pleased with how the segment turned out. Thanks to Becky for her work on it.

If you want to make a donation toward digitizing the Pierz Journals, click on the button in the sidebar to contribute through GiveMN.org. Or, if you want to rock your donation in an old-school way, send a check to the Morrison County Historical Society, PO Box 239, Little Falls, MN. Include a note to designate the check for the Save the Pierz Journals project.

Posted in charles a. weyerhaeuser memorial museum, fundraising, historic preservation, history, minnesota, morrison county, morrison county historical society, museum, newspaper, pierz, preservation, project

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