All posts by Wes Reinke

The Octagon House (ca. 1855)

Places

By David R. Schleper

The mid-19th century saw an American fascination with exotic architecture, and forms from other countries – Turkish pavilions, Swiss chalets, Chinese pagodas – began springing up. The unique American contribution to innovative house shapes was the octagon house, a style made popular by amateur architect Orson Squire Fowler.

The Octagon House
The Octagon House on the northeast corner of Second Avenue and Dakota Street.

Fowler extolled the virtues of healthier lifestyle and economy of his design. Although more than a thousand octagon houses were built, American preference for four-sided dwellings won out. Most of these homes, from grand mansions to humble country Victorians, were built within a decade between roughly 1850 and 1860, before the American Civil War.

The Octagon House in Shakopee was built before 1869, as it was shown in a map in 1869. The Octagon House was located on the corner of Dakota and Second Streets. Second Street is shared with a railroad track. It was a two story house. A segment of the 1869 map showed the house at the center of the image.

At least one octagon house, in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, was used as a station sheltering escaped slaves on the Underground Railroad.  Isaac Brown, a carpenter and trader with Native Americans, reportedly grew fearful of attacks from them in 1856, so he built a house that was designed for hiding. An Orson Fowler-designed eight-sided structure, it contained nine secret passageways and spaces. A tunnel was built between the house and a woodshed, which was used as a safe house on the Underground Railway. A small storage room beneath the front porch was used to hide the runaway slaves.

The Octagon House in Shakopee was torn down in 1940.

The St. Paul House (1854-1965)

Places

By David R. Schleper

The St. Paul House was built on the southwest corner of Second Avenue and Fuller Street in 1854. For over 110 years, the light post of the St. Paul House was a sign of excellence.

Joseph Thiem opened this as the Railroad Hotel and Saloon. Although trains didn’t come to Shakopee until 1865, it did provide lodging to the river traffic and planned ahead for the inevitable railroad business. And Shakopee could always use a new saloon!

It gained prominence and notoriety as a saloon and hotel, serving both travelers and the local population. The St. Paul House was also notorious for gambling during the 1920s and 1930s.

Over time, ownership of the hotel changed hands including John Ederts, John Krauth, Ed Schmitt, Ben Klayman, and E.B. Rossman. In 1931 it was purchased by Frank Wampach. He opened the St. Paul House Bar in 1934, added a bowling alley in 1939, and undertook a lavish remodel beginning in 1948. Over the next six years the second story was rebuilt, the Redwood Terrace lounge was added in 1952, and the Mardi Gras room opened in 1954.

Those changes, along with the hotel’s 100th anniversary, prompted Wampach to rename his business the “New St. Paul House.” Patrons enjoyed dinner and drinks seven days a week with dancing every night except Sundays. The facility was both popular and the standard of excellence in fine dining. It was recommended as a place to visit in the 1961 edition of the Duncan Hines travel book, “Adventures in Good Eating.”

The menu itself consisted of two pages, and included everything from appetizers and relishes to selective dinners and desserts. Prices varied from 20 cents for coffee, buttermilk, and milk, to $10.75 for charcoal broiled bon fire double sirloin for two. The inside of the back cover was the liquor menu and included various types of whiskeys, scotch, brandies, beers, hot toddys, Collins, rickeys, fizzies, egg nogs, cocktail drinks like daiquiris and manhattans, and fancy drinks like zombies and pink ladies.

Next to the St. Paul House was the Minneapolis House, which became Abeln’s Bar. Old Jack sat on a stool in back, and sold penny candy to kids, giving them a dollar’s worth of candy for a few pennies.

The New St. Paul House was destroyed by a fire in 1965.

Remember When: July 2018

Remember When

1893: Scott County Argus

July 6, 1893

Call on Newcomb & Grafenstatt for the best Threshers, corn cultivators, Binders, Mowers, Hay Rakes.

C. E. Busse has commenced tearing down his old store preparatory to erecting a fine brick block on the same site. This little frame building has looked down upon First street travelers for the past thirty years, but must now give way before the spirit of enterprise so contageous in Shakopee in the last two years. The new store will be patterned after the Jacob Ries building on First street.

The fire department enjoyed a little run Monday afternoon at about one o’clock. The roof of an old frame building in the rear of Otto Spielman’s saloon caught fire from the stove chimney and made quite a scare for a few moment’s time. The fire was quickly extinguished by a bucket brigade, although the fire department got a stream playing on it also in a surprisingly short space of time. The frame buildings near the burning roof were as dry as tinder from the long drought and a little delay would have shown us a disastrous fire.

On Tuesday morning the barn, granary and outbuildings belonging to Frank Huber about three miles east of town burned to the ground. No one was home at the time, as al save the hired man had come in for the celebration, and by the time neighbors arrived everything was lost. While these were attempting to extinguish the flames, smoke was discovered arising about a mile north from Huber’s. Six men were detailed to run over there and when they arrived they found Francis O’Reilly’s house in flames. The wife and children were home at the time the fire started but were unable to save any of the contents. The origin of neither fire is known, but it “laid at the door” of tramps that have infested that locality for some time past. The insurance on Huber’s property amounts to $1,000, on O’Reilly’s house and contents $700, both insured by the B. A. Kohler insurance company.

B. A. Kohler has sold his drug business to Messrs. M. A. Deutch and Herbert Zettel, of Jordan, the deal being concluded last Saturday. The purchasers take possession about the first of August. Mr. Deutch has had six years experience as prescription clerk with Jos. Kerer, of Jordan, and comes to his duties here very well recommended. The gentlemen are to be congratulated on securing a neat and progressive business in our thriving little city.

Five large pieces of iron work were delivered for the new brick block by the Nameless Iron Works this morning.

On Tuesday night burglars cut out the screen at A. Grafenstatt’s house but were frightened away by a puppy’s timely alarm.

Last Sunday morning the door of the vestry room of St. Mark’s church was found forced open. On investigation it was discovered that burglars had ransacked the room and drilled a hole through the door of the safe. Evidently they were frightened away suddenly for they left their kit of tools on the floor of the room. One cold chisel bears the mark of the M. & St. L. railroad giving rise to a suspicion that the gang was connected with the coming circus. The combination was smashed but when the safe was forced open the contents were found unmolested.

July 13, 1893

We were in error last week in stating that C. E. Busse’s store would be patterned after the Jacob Ries building. The store will be constructed similar to Chas. Broman’s new brick building and will have an iron front with three large plate glass show windows running across its entire width. The upper story of the front will be built of pressed brick. The store will be divided into two parts, one having a single and the other a double entrance. The old building has been entirely removed and now the new one will be pushed to rapid completion.

Burglars entered G S. Lander’s hardware store through the basement last Monday night and secured two good rifles, a 22 cal. revolver, and some twenty boxes of cartridges. Evidently the work was that of young boys, or at least persons very young at such a business and they may yet be apprehended.

Last Tuesday afternoon as Dr. Sabin and father were driving along First street their horse suddenly shied, throwing himself flat and tipping the buggy completely over. Dr. Sabin was thrown out but his father was caught in the buggy top. The doctor, however, succeeded in holding the desperate brute down until the old gentleman cleared himself of the wreck. The horse then kicked himself free from the traces and betook himself to the barn. He has an ugly wound in his side caused by a piece of broken thill piercing it. The buggy as well as the harness is almost a total wreck. The cause of the accident, thus saith the doctor, was nothing but the pure wickedness in heart of that dark horse, whose spirit has never been broken.

Voelker and Koenig received their new and complete meat market outfit yesterday and will be ready for business within a few days.

July 20, 1893

When you visit the World’s Fair, and become satiated with viewing strange sights and wish to rest your eyes upon some object familiar and homelike, just wend your way into the Agricultural Building, up to the second floor, and down column I until you come to the Mineral Water Exhibit, and there will be found a square plate glass case labeled Jacob Ries Bottling Works, Shakopee, Minn. which contains a neatly built pyramid of bottles containing Jacob Ries’s well known specialties, Pear Champagne, Ginger Ale, Lemon Soda, Sarsaparilla Tonic, and Rock Spring Mineral Water, altogether making a pyramid about eight feet in height. The case itself is 6 feet square and 10 feet high and its base is painted white and trimmed with gold. The four sides are of plate glass. The exhibit presents a very attractive appearance and reflects much credit upon this enterprising firm, whose reputation for fine temperance drinks, by the way, is far from a local one. It is an expensive it of advertising, but Mr. Ries knows that advertising pays and pays well, and he expects to lose nothing from placing such an exhibit. He has already filled an order from the officers of the Columbian Guards, and they commend his goods in a very flattering letter. It will prove interesting to the visitor at the fair to look up our town’s only exhibit save Mr. Gross’s sand and seed pictures and egg plant, which have been spoken of before.

Geo. D. Wilder has accepted the position of bookkeeper in the Minnesota Stove Co.’s office.

Herbert Zettel and family arrived here from St. Joseph yesterday. They have located in the Charles Wampach house. Mr. Zettel will assume the duties of druggist at B. A. Kohler’s “old stand” within a week or ten days.

John Edert is improving his First street property by the building of a brand new sidewalk along its front. Now that the ice is broken we may expect others to follow in the good work. Sidewalks will wear out even in such hard times and this year Shakopee surely has her share of decrepit walks.

July 27, 1893

New sidewalks have been ordered built on Atwood street, both sides to St. Mark’s church; on Sommerville street; both sides, to the Methodist church; on the north side of Second street from Holmes street to Fuller street, and on the west side of Holmes street from Second to Third street leading to the court house.

Last Tuesday three telegraph poles proudly reared their heads along the south side of First street, and “this cruel war is over.”

1918: Shakopee Tribune

Snelling Troops Visit Shakopee. Shakopee was host to “F” company and Machine Gun company of the 36th U. S. Infantry, Monday and Tuesday, on special invitation from Mayor Lenertz to the commanding officer at Fort Snelling…

The first consignment of building material for the construction of the Women’s State Reformatory arrived here this week. Work on the excavation of the basement will be commenced next week.

B. J. Aanes came from Eau Claire, Wis., Sunday to take temporary charge of the studio following the departure of the lady who had been managing it for some weeks and who was called to Indiana by the illness of her mother. Mr. Aanes will put the studio in charge of a competent photographer as soon as he can find one, but in the meantime he is attending to the business himself, which circumstance should be taken advantage of by those of our people who are in need of work, Mr. Aanes being considered one of the best artists in the northwest.

Consolidation Proposal Wins

The election on the proposition for consolidating school Districts No. 1, 3 and 41 was held at the high school in District No. 1, Saturday afternoon and evening, June 29, and resulted in a victory for consolidation…

It is said that Shakopee was the only incorporated city in the state which was divided into two school districts. It was an archaic state of affairs which is well done away with, and our schools are bound to be the better for the change.

July 12, 1918

To Blaze Albert Lea Trail. President Moriarty of the Minneapolis to Albert Lea Trail, appeared before the Board of County Commissioners on Monday, and secured the necessary means with which to blaze the Trail through Scott County. The County Board of the various Counties from Minneapolis to Albert Lea has taken up the work and our own efficient County Board generously arose to the occasion and showed their enthusiasm in Good Road Movements in granting the request of President Moriarty to blaze the Trail through Scott County. This Trail will bring through New Prague, Jordan and Shakopee a tremendous traffic from the South and West as well as from the Twin Cities and is a valuable asset for our County. Joseph Klinkhammer is in charge of the work in Scott County.

The first annual picnic of the Scott county beekeepeers’ association will be held on Sunday, July 14, at the farm of John Sames, one mile east of Marystown. A full attendance is desired.

July 19, 1918

Butchers Picnic at Riverside. The nineteenth annual picnic of the Minneapolis Retail Meat Dealer’s association was held at Riverside park Wednesday, and the attendance was quite large, there being at one time or another during the day several hundred automobiles in town and on the grounds. The picnic was brought to Shakopee partly through the efforts of our local dealers, Chas. Hartman and Volkert & Jansen, and partly through choice of the executives of the association; but in any case, no better place for holding such an affair could have been hit upon than Shakopee and Riverside Park, and this seems to have been the opinion of the crowd, which very evidently enjoyed the outing…

Sid Dierberger has added a fine new 5 passenger Chevrolet car to his livery equipage and is better prepared than ever to handle all kinds of work in the livery line.

July 26, 1918

Glass in His Breakfast. Wednesday morning Jud Holman lost his breakfast in a manner which is probably unique in the history of lightning freaks. It was during the electric storm around 7 o’clock and breakfast was steaming on the table when a blinding flash of lightning followed by a terrific peal of thunder disturbed the even tenor of the meal. But this was nothing to what happened when at the same instant the telephone emitted a blinding flash and a mirror on the wall above the table was shivered to atoms, the glass showering the table and everything on it so that the meal had to be thrown away. This is one story of glass in food that’s authentic, but not Hun spy is responsible, for the Huns all live in the other direction from whence came the lightning.

War Pictures At Gem. Manager Shelton of the Gem Theatre has leased the government series of war pictures which the pathe company has been authorized to film. In presenting these pictures to the public of Shakopee Manager Shelton is not only bringing to his house the most interesting feature now obtainable, but is also performing a patriotic service in compliance with the request of the government war publicity service. That no attempt is being made to make money out of this feature is evidenced by the reduced prices which prevail on those nights when these pictures are shown. Every man, woman, and child in the community should make it a point to see these pictures of our boys and the life they are leading over there as often as possible.

Studio Changes Hands. Last Friday B. J. Aanes effected a deal for the sale of the Shakopee studio to Oscar F. Haering of Jordan, who was given possession Monday of this week…

Walter Huth and family moved here from St. Paul last Friday and are now comfortably domiciled in the Mahoney house on Fourth street.

Rev. John Detgen, who has had charge of St. John’s Lutheran church the past six months, departed for Heron Lake on Wednesday, where he has been assigned to the Lutheran church at that place.

Rev. George Matthae and family arrived here from Heron Lake and are occupying the Lutheran parsonage, east of the Herman Schroeder residence. Rev. Lehne of St. Paul was here on Sunday and conducted the ceremony, incident to the installation of the new pastor.

1918: Scott County Argus

July 5, 1918

Material Arrives For Reformatory. The first car load of building material to be used in the construction of the Woman’s State Reformatory has arrived here. This material is to be used in the construction of the basement walls. The excavation of the basement will be commenced the first of next week.

William and Herman Duede have gone to St. Paul where they will be employed at their trade as molder, their families remaining here for the present.

Lee Gelhaye has purchased the John Strattmann residence and will take possession in about a month.

Wm. Spoerner left this week for St. Paul where he will work for a stove company, which has a large government contract.

July 12, 1918

Local dealers in gasoline yesterday received official notice that after July 15th no gasoline may be sold after six o’clock, on any day of the week and its sale is absolutely prohibited on Sundays and holidays. Sales will also be strictly for cash.

Trail Will Be Blazed. President Moriarty of the Minneapolis to Albert Lea Trail, appeared before the Board of County Commissioners on Monday, and secured the necessary means with which to blaze the trail through Scott county. The county board of the various counties from Minneapolis to Albert Lea have taken up the work and our own efficient county board generously arose to the occasion and showed their enthusiasm in good road movements in granting the request of President Moriarty to blaze the trail through Scott county. This trail will bring through New Prague, Jordan and Shakopee a heavy traffic from the south and west, as well as from the Twin Cities, and is a valuable asset for our county. Joseph Klinkhammer is in charge of the work in Scott county.

Ground Broken for Woman’s Reformatory. The contractor who has the job of constructing the first building, the administration building of the Woman’s State Reformatory at Shakopee, arrived on the ground the first of the week with a part of his necessary equipment. On Wednesday morning work was started and the ground broken preparatory for the excavation of the large basement to be put in under the entire structure.

St. Mark’s Parish Raises New Flag. The flag raising and ice cream social held at St. Mark’s church Wednesday evening was an event that will long be remembered in the annals of the parish for its many delightful features, chief of which was the dedication of the handsome flag 10×20 feet in dimension donated by John J. O’Dowd. The emblem is said to be the largest in Scott or Carver counties and flies from a flag pole 80 feet high erected midway between the church and the parish residence on the spacious lawn of the parish grounds. The dedicatory ceremonies consisted of music by the Mandolin club, the singing of “The Star Spangled Banner” by St. Mark’s girl choir, patriotic speeches by Rev. Fr. Savs and Sen. Julius A. Coller and the closing song “America” by the assemblage. To Miss Ruth Brunner, enlisted as a Red Cross nurse, and Private Henry Thul, at home on furlough from Camp Dodge, fell the honor of raising the flag amid the wildly enthusiastic plaudits of the hundreds in attendance. The banners is a valuable gift and a beautiful addition to the church grounds and St. Mark’s parish is deeply appreciative of the generosity of the donor…

Mrs. E. Drechsler has bought the former Paukner home on Third street from Frank Boehmer who recently purchased it and remodeled it for his own use. The consideration is reported to be $1600.

July 19, 1918

Miss Pearl Bassett returned Wednesday to St. Paul to resume work at Stronge and Warner’s wholesale millinery house.

Lester Brown has traded his five passenger Haynes for L. E. Dawson’s seven passenger Studebaker which he will use in his auto service to Glen Lake.

Two Autos Stolen

Automobile thieves were busy in the city early Tuesday morning and succeeded in getting away with County Agent Geiger’s new Ford that he won July 4th at the Jordan Red Cross picnic. Mr. Geiger returned about one o’clock from Savage where he had conducted a canning demonstration and put his car in the garage without locking it. In the morning he discovered the garage open and himself minus a new Ford which he had owned just eleven days.

On the same morning about 3:30 o’clock Mrs. Peter Stemmer was awakened by a noise in their garage and flashes of light as though the lights of the car were on. She awakened Mr. Stemmer and he went out to investigate, to find his five passenger Overland backed from the garage into the alley and a man attempting to drive away with the car. In his hurry the fellow killed the engine and becoming scared as Mr. Stemmer appeared, he leaped from the car and ran. Mr. Stemmer was unarmed and not being able to overtake the thief the latter escaped.

Search was immediately instituted but no trace of the stolen car has been found. It is thought that several men were implicated in the theft although no clue to the robbers has been discovered.

Building Begun For Women’s Reformatory

Klarquist and Son of Minneapolis, who have the contract for the general work of the Women’s reformatory have commenced work on the excavation.

The building will be located on the 12 acre tract south of Sixth street. It will face on Sixth St. (south) and will be built on the crest of the hill, commanding a view of the Minnesota valley…

July 26, 1918

Frank Boehmer purchased A. J. Munro’s lot on Third street for $375 and is building a new residence for himself.

While cranking his Ford delivery truck Wednesday, Leander, the seventeen year old son of John Thole tore the cords of his arm seriously. The injury happened in the same place where the arm was broken three years ago. Dr. Buck attended him and he is getting along nicely but will be unable to use his arm for several weeks.

The congregation of St. John’s Lutheran church held a reception Sunday afternoon at the Herman Schroeder home to welcome their new pastor, Rev. George Mattae of Howard Lake whose installation took place Sunday morning. Rev. Mr. Lehne of St. Paul was the installing pastor. Several hundred persons attended the reception and a picnic dinner and supper were served on the lawn. During the afternoon ice cream and soft drinks were served. The event was also arranged as a farewell to Rev. John Detgen, the out-going pastor, who was presented with a handsome gold watch and chain as a token of the regard of his congregation. Rev. Mr. Mattae and family are now established as permanent residents of Shakopee and are cordially welcomed as such.

1943: Shakopee Argus-Tribune

July 1, 1943

Shakopee Loses Another Scoutmaster to Military. For the fourth time in the current war the Shakopee Boy Scout troop has lost its scoutmaster to the armed forces. Most recent loss is John Maloney, member of the local high school faculty, who handed in his resignation last week to begin service in the U.S. Army…

Mr. and Mrs. B. A. Herzog and family moved here from Jordan last Thursday, and are occupying the Mat Sames house on South Holmes St. Mr. Herzog is superintendent of the schools in Scott county.

FOR SALE.—CHEAP—Business property adjoining Shakopee Bakery, also dwellings. Estate of the late August Scherkenbach. Tel 279.

FOR RENT.—4-room upstairs apartment, at 612 E. 1st St. Tel. 21-W-4. HERMAN RIES.

13 Shakopee Scouts on Victory Garden Outing

Thirteen Shakopee Boy Scouts are now taking their turn of duty in the vast Scout Victory Garden project at Camp Tonkawa, near Maple Plain. They entered camp Sunday and will remain for two weeks.

Unlike previous summer outings which dealt chiefly with recreation and troop advancement this season’s camp is a wartime work project in which every boy spends half of his time occupied in the vegetable garden helping to produce next winter’s food.

The other half of the time is devoted to recreational activities thru which advancement in scout study and training is achieved.

July 8, 1943

M. E. Ferguson, local manager of the C. Thomas store, has brought his wife and little family to Shakopee. They arrived here from Albert Lea, Wednesday, and for the time being and until a house in town can be obtained, they will occupy the Andrew Kopisca house over at the “Y”. Mr. Ferguson relates an experience he had at Albert Lea last Sunday when the clouds hovering over the city opened up and let go upon that count the heaviest downpour he has ever seen. At the time, he says, he was bringing Mrs. Ferguson and their newly born heir home from the hospital and that the rain came down so heavy they were obliged to remain in their car for over two and one-half hours. Needless to say the Fergusons are welcome to Shakopee, where, it is hoped they may enjoy their residence and make new friends.

FOR SALE—To Close Estate, homestead with good dwelling and outbuildings and 14 acres; 3 blocks from Shakopee high school, conveniently located, ideal for light farming. Also dwelling with 2 ½ lots, centrally located on Fourth street. Inquire E. J. HUBER, Adm., Elizabeth Engel Est., Shakopee.

NYA Center Here Officially Closed

In conformity with a congressional mandate ordering its cessation, the Shakopee N.Y.A. Center, like 499 others throughout the nation, has been officially closed. The order affects eight projects in Minnesota at Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth St. Cloud, Winona, Tracy, Aitkin and Shakopee.

Arnold C. Stordahl, superintendent of the Shakopee Center, said Monday the local project, equipped to accommodate 500 youth has been officially closed since Saturday, July 3. According to Stordahl only a skeleton crew is still employed at the center carrying out the details necessitated by the closing order…

The Shakopee N.Y.A. project, said to be the first in the United States, was instituted March 4, 1938 with J. A. Whelan, now a lieutenant colonel serving in North Africa, sent here to establish the program. A semi-relief project, it was created to provide industrial training, education and occupation for unemployed youth whose parents were unable to support them or send them to school.

With the advent of the war the program was quickly adapted to training workers for defense industries, but with the war also came the difficulty of obtaining enrollees coming within the 17-25 year age limitation specified in the national program. Ready employment for youth removed the employment problem and the military services and selective service act absorbed many thousands who might have sought the training offered by N.Y.A…

July 15, 1943

School Band May Participate in Aquatennial. Tentative plans are under consideration, weather conditions permitting, to have our school band represent the city of Shakopee as a participant in the Aquatennial parade in Minneapolis, on July 31…

Scrap Drive Nets 100,000 Pounds Metal. That the local scrap drive which terminated Saturday night was a success, was verified by William F. Marschall, drive chairman, who issued the statement Monday that 100,000 pounds of scrap metal had been accumulated at the salvage depot…

13,100 Pounds of Tin Cans Shipped Monday

A carload of salvaged tin, 13,100 pounds of it, was shipped form Shakopee Monday representing six week’s accumulation in the cities of Scott and Carver counties it was learned.

Collected by grocers in the several cities, the tin was brought to Shakopee on trucks operated by Jacob Ries Bottling Works, active in the salvaging of tin container’s. From here the shipment went to Minneapolis, and will then go on to Chicago where it will be run through a detinning plant…

July 22, 1943

Farm Volunteers To Be Summoned. Scott county townspeople who have volunteered to help local farmers get in the critical 1943 war crop, will have a chance to deliver the goods within the next few weeks, says Ernest Wermerskirchen, chairman of the county farm help committee. Unfavorable weather has piled up farm work so that harvest is here while there is still much hay to be cut and corn to put by…

Daylight Alert Successful Here. With the exception of several minor infractions and one traffic offense, the daylight alert staged here Tuesday, under instructions from the State Civilian Defense office, was quite successful, Paul Ries, local chief air raid warden, said Wednesday…

Two New Industrial Buildings Now Under Construction in City. Two new industrial buildings now under construction in Shakopee are nearing completion. One is a 36×120 foot machine shop at the Northrup King and company plant, and the other is a 72×145 foot addition to the west end of the Page and Hill plant. Both are in West Shakopee…

Weinmann Sheet Metal Works Developing into Real Industry. One of the busiest manufacturing concerns in Shakopee these days is the Weinmann Sheet Metal Works, located on East First street. Yes, the Weinmann Sheet Metal Works, from a humble beginning, in a comparatively short space of time, without any fanfare or flourish of trumpets, has developed into an industry of considerable proportions. In fact, so quietly has been the development of this industry that many of our folks were unaware of it—yes, even of its existence in our midst…

FOR SALE.—Fred Spindler home; 5 light rooms, furnace, storm windows, screens, 2 lots, garage; Globe range, kitchen cabinet. 704 E. 1st ST., Shakopee.

ICE—Cash and carry, or with Sanitary Ice Coupons, now available at MAIN OIL COMPANY, Shakopee.

July 29, 1943

Need More Blood for Fighting Men. Although several of the city’s industrial plants have patriotically granted all of their employees paid time to visit the blood donor center and give a pint of blood here August 3, the number of registrants required under the quota had not yet been reached Wednesday, Mrs. W. A. Pomije, Red Cross committee chairman, disclosed…

Dallas F. Capesius Appointed to Again Direct 3rd War Bond Sales. Dallas F. Capesius of this city who, for the past two years has directed the war bond sales in Scott county, will continue in that capacity with enlarged responsibilities, in the newly organized state war finance organization…

Mrs. W. A. Pomije recently received an appointment to serve on the Scott County Welfare board, and has entered upon her new duties in welfare work.

NOTICE. — Effective immediately, there will be but one grocery delivery daily—at 11 a.m.; Saturday deliveries will be at 9 a.m. and 2 pm. This change must be made because of gasoline rationing. GEORGE A. RING.

1968: Shakopee Valley News

July 4, 1968

High Court Reverses Ruling On Old Mill. The Supreme Court of the State of Minnesota, last Friday, June 26, handed down a decision that the District Court of Shakopee ruling on granting dismissal of the suit of the City of Shakopee vs. Kopp & Associates Inc., et al, is reversed, with the action now to be returned to the District court…

60 Enrolled In Law Enforcement Course Sponsored by Scott Sheriff

A Training School for Law Enforcement Officers, sponsored by the Scott County Sheriff’s Department, for auxiliary, full and part-time, law enforcement officers has an enrollment of 60…

The course consists of lectures, sound film strip pictures of standard operating procedures, used by law enforcement agencies in the performance of their duties, and group discussion by class members on “how to do it” and “why to do it” aspects of the work of law enforcement officers…

Now Expanding Medical Center

Now under way is excavation and other work relative to the expansion of the Shakopee Medical Center, corner of Fourth Avenue and Naumkeag.

Planned is an addition to the rear of the present building extending to the east, to facilitate additional offices and other accommodations.

Fast Draw Club ‘Shoot-Out’ Today At Stage Coach

The Fast Draw Club will stage its annual Fourth of July Shoot-Out today (Thursday), beginning at 2 p.m. at the Stage Coach on Highway 101, between Shakopee and Savage.

In addition to demonstration of shooting skill by Fast Draw Club members, there is to be live country music by the Western Wildcats.

Admission charge is one-dollar for adults and 50 cents for children.

Area Highways To Be In ‘First Look’ Of New Study Approach

Proposed reconstruction and future planning of highways in this area are to figure into the first formal application of the New Total Design Team Concept approach to highway planning in Minnesota the Minnesota Highway Department announced this week.

First reconstruction to be considered under this new approach is that of Highway 169 and 212. Further planning to figure in this new concept is that for Highways 41 and 101…

One of the factors to be studied is where to locate the proposed Minnesota River span to crossing on Highway 169.

The State Highway Department has contended that the bridge should be at the west edge of Shakopee near the railroad viaduct at Rahr Malting and run to the present 169 and 212 wye.

City of Shakopee officials pointing out that this would bring unwanted truck traffic through the city, would not adequately serve the needs of Valley Industrial park and other industrial sites in the area, as well as possibly not be compatible with the future planning of the city, has gone on record as designing the bridge site at the east edge of Shakopee near the former city dump just to the north of Highway 101…

July 11, 1968

Break-In At Shakopee House

A burglary at the Shakopee House Restaurant on Highway 101 (East First), East edge of Shakopee, was reported at 5:15 a.m. last Sunday, July 7, after the firm was broken into sometime between the evening closing hour at approximately 1:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. in the morning.

A three-quarter inch tire iron was the probable tool, according to authorities, used to pry off the second story window on the north side of the building, leading to the basement entry way on the northeast side.

The same tool was apparently used to pry the top off a cigar case from which the cigar money was taken, and also to smash the window on the cigarette machine.

Investigating is Patrolman John DuBois of the Shakopee Police Department.

Metro Council To Phase Out Shakopee, Prior Lake Sewer Plants

The Metropolitan Council Monday of last week, July 1, approved “in concept” a seven-county metropolitan area sewer program, utilizing regional treatment plants in 11 districts under the control of a single administrative agency, with a program of phasing out existing plants, including those of Prior Lake and Shakopee.

Under the program, the Metropolitan Council would become owner of all sewage treatment plants and interceptor sewer lines in the seven counties and would determine where new facilities would be constructed…

July 18, 1968

Gets ‘New Look’. Now boasting a “spruced up” look is the Shakopee Fire station and City Garage at Scott and Second, this building have been given an exterior coat of stucco this week.

Approve City Park Land Historic Site. By action of the Common Council at its regular meeting Tuesday evening of last week, July 9, the council, on motion, approved the having the City Attorney draw up papers with proper deletions and reverter clause with a time limit, to give title to the land in Memorial Park at the east edge of the City of Shakopee, sought by the Scott County Historical Society for its project of restoration of the area as a historical site and to include a biological study station…

Meet Today On County Bridge; Plan Inventory

Scott County officials are to attend a meeting at 2 p.m. today (Thursday), July 18, at the offices of the Metropolitan Council, Capitol Square in St. Paul, relative to the joint Hennepin-Scott counties project of a new bridge to span the Minnesota River at the present Scott County Road 25, Bloomington Ferry bridge location.

The Metro Council set the meeting for a discussion of Hennepin and Scott proposal for the new bridge in alignment with Hennepin County Highway 18 and extending south along the boundary line between Bloomington and Eden Prairie.

The meeting announcement from the Metro Council stated that the joint bridge project is scheduled for 1970, but involved counties would like to begin soil tests yet this year to determine precise location. It added that a representative of Hennepin County would be present to discuss the proposal…

Propose Trailway Project Along Minnesota River From Fort Snelling, To Le Sueur

The Minnesota River Boating and Trail Association held an informational meeting at 8 p.m. on Monday of last week, July 8, at the Carver County Courthouse in Chaska to discuss a proposed trailway project along the Minnesota River with area sportsmen…

The group calls for development of a 75-mile stretch along the Minnesota River from Fort Snelling to Le Sueur, to include a system of riding and snowmobile trails; separate hiking and bicycling trails; campgrounds, accessible by automobile, and along the trail other access by horseback only, with picnic grounds along the entire length.

The proposed plan would emphasize points of interest in the valley, historic sites that are significant, reconstruction of old sites, and points of biological and geological interest. It would also include river access sites and a study of marinas, as needed…

July 25, 1968

Hold First Reading Of Ordinance Combining City Administrator, Utilities Secretary

First reading of Ordinance No. 268, dealing with the combining of certain city offices with that of City Administrator, particularly that of secretary to the Shakopee Public Utilities Commission, was held by the Commons Council of the City of Shakopee at its adjourned meeting Tuesday night of this week, July 23, in the City Building Council Chambers…

1993: Shakopee Valley News

July 1, 1993

Tired of gridlock? Try riding the river waves

John Constantine’s Emmy Lou is more petite and a lot quieter than Mr. Charles Allnut’s African Queen.

The Minnesota River is also less treacherous (although the mosquito population is comparable) than the leech-loaded river that the African Queen traversed. Nevertheless, both ferry boats are dedicated to service in an otherwise unserviceable situation.

Since the flooding of the Minnesota River last week, Constantine — who is cleaner shaven and much tidier than the greasy Allnut character played by Humphrey Bogart — has looked for a way to ferry passengers across the river.

Owner of Creative River Tours in Shakopee, Constantine this week gained permission from the U.S. Coast Guard to land Emmy Lou on the west end of Murphy’s Landing on the Shakopee side of the river, and near the Lions Tap restaurant on the Eden Prairie side of the river…

City OKs land purchase near school

The city of Shakopee has approved the purchase of land behind the high school that could be used for recreational facilities in the future and includes parcels that the Shakopee School District will buy from the city for school expansion and the renovation of athletic fields.

The land was purchased from Gold Nugget Development Inc., of Brooklyn Park, for $838,464. The city eventually will sell about half of the 63 acres to the school district. In deciding to make the purchase, the City Council reasoned that if recreational facilities are not built on the site, the property could be sold, probably at a profit, at a later date.

July 8, 1993

Sames is named court administrator of year. Roger W. Sames of Shakopee has been named the 1993 Minnesota Association for Court Administration’s Administrator of the Year.

County seeks disaster declaration. With Scott County sustaining about $2.1 million in flood losses during the past two weeks, commissioners Tuesday declared it a disaster area — a procedure that formally asks Gov. Arne Carlson to petition President Clinton for federal aid in the form of low-interest loans for businesses and farmers…

Funding shortages to delay bypass by a year

Transportation funding shortages at the state level will result in a one-year delay in the completion of the Shakopee Bypass, according to Shakopee city officials.

The city was notified that due to funding problems, remaining construction contracts will be delayed and the completion date of the bypass will be pushed back from fall 1995 to fall 1996…

Red Cross recruitment by student paid off

When Ruth Mattson, a recent Shakopee High School graduate, promoted a fund-raiser and disaster-volunteer campaign on behalf of the American Red Cross at her school in April, she had no idea that a disaster would stake Scott County.

Mattson, a board member of the American Red Cross and her school’s Student Council, coordinated a campaign designed to enhance awareness that disaster can strike anywhere at any time. Students and staff were encouraged to donate a dollar or more and to register to donate up to three hours of time to help with disaster relief in the community.

With flood waters cresting at 14 to 16 feet above flood stage, Scott County definitely was experiencing a disaster. The Emergency Operations Center at the Scott County Courthouse in Shakopee needed immediate help operating special phone lines set up to provide the public with flood, weather and road information. The American Red Cross was contacted for volunteers, and the organization’s Shakopee branch had a list available with volunteers to contact due to the high school recruitment campaign…

Appeals court rejects claim against city

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has dismissed a claim by a Shakopee gravel mining business that the refusal by the city to grant a mining permit from 1985 to 1988 constituted a taking of property and that the company should be compensated.

A three-judge panel, in an opinion filed June 29, dismissed the claim, brought by NBZ Enterprises Inc…

July 15, 1993

Amphitheater proposal advanced to City Council. The prospect of Shakopee becoming home to a major amphitheater moved forward last Thursday when the Shakopee Planning Commission on a 3-2 vote recommended that the City Council allow such a use at the failed Canterbury Downs horse track…

Vietnam wall replica to be part of events honoring war dead Labor Day weekend

An event that will honor military service people who served in Vietnam will be held at Canterbury Downs over Labor Day weekend.

“Operation Stand Down,” which will bring the traveling replica of the wall in Washington, D.C. that honors those who gave their lives in the Vietnam War, and a week-long series of ceremonies, dances, reunions and parades is expected to draw up to 250,000 people to the Shakopee racetrack…

July 22, 1993

City Council rejects amphitheater on 5-0 vote. About 125 area residents and thoroughbred racing supporters applauded the Shakopee City Council Tuesday night after its unanimous vote against a proposal that would have allowed an outdoor amphitheater and entertainment complex at Canterbury Downs…

Consultant to aid in search for a county justice center site

The Scott County Board has hired a consulting firm to help a citizens committee develop a site selection process for a new county justice center.

Although the construction of a justice center — that four years ago was estimated to cost $15.4 million — is not on the county’s five-year capital improvement plan, $1.5 million is in the plan to acquire a site for such a facility by the end of 1994…

Juba’s to close to allow for conversion to County Market

Juba’s Super Valu next to Shakopee Town Square will close from Friday, July 30 to Tuesday, Aug. 3 as workers make the finishing touches on the store’s conversion to a County Market. The store plans an Aug. 4 grand opening.

Over the past six months, construction workers have expanded the store by more than 15,000 square feet to 35,000 square feet. Store equipment has been replaced with the latest in technology, new flooring and fixtures and new products have been added, and each department has been expanded, said store owner Dick Juba…

Juba said he decided to convert the store to the County Market concept to meet customer convenience needs. It will include such amenities as wider aisles, a full customer service center, a drive-up lane where customers can load groceries with a protective overhang, and a larger collection of merchandise…

July 29, 1993

Bridge closing helps mini-bypass work progress

While the Highway 169 bridge in Shakopee was closed for nearly a month due to flooding, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (DOT) and contractor C.S. McCrossen Co. were able to complete the portion of the downtown mini-bypass project from the south end of the old bridge to First Avenue. The bridge reopened July 16.

Work on the south side of the roadway — on the west end of the project on First Avenue between Atwood and Holmes streets — is completed. That portion of roadway has been paved, and curbs, gutters and sidewalks have been installed. Traffic will now be restricted to the south side of First Avenue in preparation for work on the north side of the road. That portion of the project will not be as extensive since a majority of the utility installation has been completed, according to the DOT. Some of the utilities will be hooked up during work on the north side of the roadway. Curbs, gutters and sidewalks will then be added. Scheduled opening for this portion of the project is in late August…

County Board considers spending $1.2 million remodeling courthouse

The Scott County Courthouse will undergo about $1.2 million in renovations and furnishings within the next year if the Scott County Board elects to adopt the proposal at its meeting next week.

Meeting as a committee of the whole Tuesday the board indicated it will approve spending the money – which will be taken out of the county’s cash flow fund — to create more space for employees in three departments and more room for records storage, improve the reception area and result in the move of juror rooms to the jail annex area near Jordan…

The seven remodeling projects will include the construction of a record storage area in the courthouse garage; remodeling the annex storage area for juror rooms; the move of court services to the third floor; the redesign of the layout of Human Services on third floor; remodeling the southwest entrance to the courthouse for a new reception area, and remodeling the lobby entrance for the Veterans Services office.

Shakopee’s Marschall farm was site of recent ‘Dairy Month’ tour

A dairy farm owned by the Roy Marschall family of Shakopee was the site of the “June Dairy Month” tour sponsored by the Scott County Dairy Initiatives Team.

The Marschall dairy farm, two miles south of Shakopee, has been a dairy farm since 1862. The family milks approximately 120 cows with an annual herd production of nearly 23,000 pounds of milk per cow. The family farms land in the Shakopee area, raising all the feed for its dairy herd. The entire family takes an active part in the operation of the farm…

A River Pilot from Shakopee (1861)

People

By David R. Schleper

In earlier days, the richest in romance, tradition, and pure excitement was the steamboats. Stories of the old steamboat days are always replete with action and interest. While the captain and the mate were important, the old river pilot stands out as the most interesting person in early American history.

George R. DeMers of Shakopee was a veteran river man and pilot of the Mississippi and Minnesota River. Starting as deck sweeper on a boat, he played the waters of the Minnesota River until he retired to become part of the land a quarter of a century later. From the time he went on the river at ten years of age, his career was as colorful and thrilling as any fiction writer could desire.

Threading his way cautiously past sand bars, rocks, and rapids, sometimes through inky blackness, at others hampered rather than aided by lightning flashes as the boat nosed its way through a storm at night, George relied on his training, his knowledge of the Minnesota River, and that uncanny sixth sense possessed by the old-time river men. In all those years, he never lost a boat or experienced a serious mishap. George is inclined to attribute his splendid record to good luck. “I just didn’t happen to have any trouble, that’s all,” he said in conversation in 1925, when he was 74 years old. But a more logical explanation is that he possessed a good measure of the skill, coolness, and judgment indispensable in a good river pilot. Even in those days of low wages, pilots received $125 or more a month.

George was born in Merriam Junction on October 22, 1851. His father’s farm was near the Minnesota River, and naturally, he became interested in the great boats that swept so majestically up and down the river, and in the boisterous and carefree men that formed the crew. So George was taken on as a deck hand in 1861, the first year of the Civil War. He served as a deck sweeper for four years, and then became a watchman. Two years later, he was granted his papers as a pilot, and was assigned to his first boat. In years following, George served on many crafts that are prominent in river annals. Among them were the Minnesota, Diamond Jo, Otter, Mankato, Mollie O., and International.

Some of these were passenger boats, often with as many as 300 souls aboard, all in the keeping of the pilot. “It was pretty serious business,” said George, “steering through the night with 300 people asleep behind you, and realizing that you alone were responsible for their safety.” Certain responsibilities were attached to the office of captain and mate, he explained, “but the pilot was held accountable for his boat when he was at the wheel, as he was not subject to the captain’s orders, except in certain minor matters of routine.”

When asked to recount his most trying experience, George removed his hat and rubbed his head as a gesture of reflection. “Well,” he said, “I remember one time coming down the Minnesota with the Diamond Jo, the biggest boat I ever took out. I had a valuable cargo and a lot of passengers aboard. We left the levee at St. Paul just before dark. It was cloudy, and I felt sure that we were going to have a storm. As it was early summer and the river was low, I thought I might have a little trouble in a storm at the rapids about Merriam, as that was then the most dangerous place on the river. Sure enough, just before we reached the rapids, the storm struck. Lightning flashed almost continuously, and the rain came down in sheets. I was pretty badly worried for a while, but we made the rapids without mishap.”

At another time, George narrowly escaped drowning. He was a watchman then. “It was on the old Mankato,” he said. “I was sound asleep when the engineer whistled for the landing at St. Peter. I jumped up and miscalculating the distance from shore, dropped into thirty feet of water. They fished me out, and after that I was more careful!”

The boats on the Minnesota River in those days were stern wheelers and carried crews of from ten to twelve men, besides the officers and pilots. Each boat carried two pilots. The river men were a rough and ready lot, who settled all disputes with their first. But the veteran pilots called that they were a good-natured, kindly lot, for all that.

According to The Diary of Daniel M. Storer from 1849 to 1905: A Pioneer Builder and Merchant in Shakopee, Minnesota, steamboats were a regular appearance on the Minnesota River. Over time, the steamboats included Tiger, Humboldt, Soleo, Greek Slave, Nominee, Minnesota Belle, Lola, Globe, Black Hawk, Navigator, Monticello, and Reviler. Others included Equator, Frank Steele, Henrietta, Yankee Robinson, Ariel Jones, Albany, Stella Whipple, Antelope, Jeanette Roberts, Northern Light, Chippewa Falls, City of St. Paul, Lorna Doone, Daisy, and Flora Clark.

George’s brother, Charles, was also a pilot. One day the two brothers raced their boats from Mankato to St. Paul. George was on the Mankato, and Charles was in the Carver. The latter won by two hours. The brothers also spent several years on the Red River of the North, traveling between the headwaters of the river and Winnipeg. A prominent thoroughfare in Grand Forks, North Dakota bears the name DeMers Avenue.

With the advent of the railroads, steamboat traffic declined, and after a few years, the Minnesota River ceased to be an important avenue of transportation. George gave up his post as a pilot and worked in the Shakopee mills, owned by G.F. Strait. He served as head miller ten years, retiring several years later. He married Katherine Galvin, and they had two boys and two girls.

Modest and unassuming, the Shakopee veteran holds lightly his service as a river pilot, but George DeMers’s record speaks for itself.

(Some information from “Recollections of a Pioneer Citizens: George R. DeMers Relates Colorful Incidents of His Career as a River Pilot.” From the Shakopee Tribune, 27 Aug 1925, and Recollections of Early Pioneers, 1925 by Betty A. Dols, 10 Jan 2000, Shakopee Heritage Society; The Diary of Daniel M. Storer from 1849 to 1905: A Pioneer Builder and Merchant in Shakopee, Minnesota, Shakopee Heritage Society, 2003.)

Shakopee: Turtle Capital of Twin Cities (1926)

Events

By David R. Schleper

Over the years, by fact and by legend, Shakopee had created for itself a colorful past. Old timers recount stories of times that will never be recaptured. One interesting story is the famed turtles that were captured on the Minnesota River near Shakopee starting in the late 1920s. According to Pat Thielen in 1974, people used to trap turtles commercially, and sold them to outlets throughout the Twin City area and beyond.

Thielen began his interest in hunting, trapping, and outdoor activity at an early age. “I used to go out with my dad almost before I could walk,” he said. Pat Thielen used to be the police chief in Shakopee.

“I started trapping turtles with my dad in 1926, when I was 10 or 12 years old,” he recounted, “and began to market them commercially in the 1930s.”

“We started turtle trapping for sport and for our own use,” Thielen said, “but it gets in your blood.”

Local taverns, according to Thielen, used to have turtle feeds every week, and he had several customers in Minneapolis and St. Paul. A commercial fisherman in Waterville bought Thielen’s turtles, as did a buyer in Wisconsin.

At one time, Thielen had a trap line consisting of 200 traps in Scott and Carver Counties, covering nearly a 75 mile area. He trapped mostly along the Minnesota River.

Trapping took place all year round. During the winter months, when ice formed, turtles were dug out of the mud in spring holes and in channels and creeks where the flow of the water keep the top from freezing.

Thielen’s biggest turtle, a 58 pounder, came out of the Priest’s Bay, which is near Mound in Hennepin County. Thielen was in a boat at the time with game warden Ernie Boyd. They spotted the big snapping turtle on top of a trap, attempting to get the bait inside. He was too big to get into the trap itself.

“I grabbed him by the tail and hauled him into the boat, and the two of us almost left,” Thielen said. “It was the biggest turtle I ever caught or ever saw.”

Over the years, Thielen trapped many snappers that weighed in at 40 to 45 pounds, but the average was generally in the 15-pound range.

In the 1930s, Thielen was paid three cents a pound for live turtles, and 18 cents per pound if they were dressed. In 1964, a live turtle sold for almost 50 cents per pound, and dressed turtle meat cost $2.50 per pound. According to Wholey, in 2018 a snapping turtle meat, boneless, is $120 for 5 pounds.

“I quit trapping in 1941 when I spent five years in the Army. When I came back, I worked at the St. Paul House and started again,” said Pat Thielen. Frank Wampach ran the St. Paul House at that time, and Thielen supplied him with turtle meat.

“Frank wanted some turtles to put in his rock garden to show customers what they looked like,” Thielen said. “So I put 200 of them in there, and they ate $200 worth of goldfish in one day.” The display was not effective for long. The air conditioning system in the building drew in the odor from the turtles, and they finally had to be taken out of the rock garden.

Thielen quit trapping in 1965, but the activity is pursued by a few area residents, though not with commercial interests in mind. While the market for turtle meat was still good when Pat Thielen was interviewed in 1974, there were too few turtles in the area to make it profitable.

Traps were made of reinforcing wire. They were round, about four feet across and four feet deep. Inside the trap, a carp was placed in a small basket for bait. It was not uncommon to find seven or eight turtles in one trap, and Thielen often rounded up between 60 and 70 turtles a day.

Pat Thielen was the first person to trap turtles in Lake Minnetonka, a source from which he got thousands of the reptiles. He also did a lot of trapping in pot holes between Renville and Sacred Heart west to Granite Falls.

A turtle is cleaned by hanging it by its tail and cutting the shell away. “The whole thing takes five minutes if you know how,” Thielen said. “Otherwise, you’d be out there all day.” Turtles and snakes are known for having muscle movements and heart beats many hours after beheading, even more than what chickens have. After cutting off the head, some people scald them in hot water so you can scrape the skin off. Just split the shell on each side to separate the top and bottom. About one-third of the turtle’s weight is consumed in useable meat.

“Turtle meat tastes something like frog but it has a beefy taste to it as well,” Thielen said. “I guess it tastes different to everybody.”

Rubberback turtles are best prepared by French frying, according to Thielen, but snappers are tougher and should be browned first, and then roasted. Snapping turtles are most often used in soup as well. An old Cajun once told David Schleper that turtle stew is so good it will “make your tongue slap your brain!”

A fishing license was required to trap turtles, and there was no limit placed on them. “Turtles will be extinct pretty soon if they don’t put some limits on them,” said Thielen in 1974. Thielen noted that “more people are trapping and eating turtles than ever before.”

A limit of three turtles is allowed, and a state license is required. In fact, most turtles are taken with traps and nets. Turtles can range in weight from 10 to 35 pounds. Turtles are found throughout Minnesota, but starting in 1984 they were listed as a “special concern species,” mostly because of the possibly detrimental effects of commercial harvest on the local populations.

Starting in 2004, commercial harvesting snapping turtles now included limiting the number of traps which could be used, restricting turtle licenses to Minnesota residents, and putting a moratorium on the sale of new licenses. Anyone who held a license prior to the rule changes was permitted to renew it and they may pass their license down one generation to their relatives. Additionally, trappers must now keep a daily log of where their traps are located and how many turtles they harvest.

Thielen had been bitten several times, and carried a knife while trapping. Of course, if someone is swimming in the Minnesota River, and one of the snapping turtles bites down on the toe, it’s going to be a long walk back to the house with an 80 pound turtle on the toe! According to Pat Thielen, “About the only way to get them off was to cut the cords in their neck!”

“If I had the turtles today that I had back in the 1930’s, I’d be a millionaire!” said Thielen in 1974. “But it was sure fun while it lasted!”

(Some information from “Shakopee Was Once Turtle Capital of Twin City Area,” Shakopee Valley News, 25 Dec 1974; “DNR Seizes 1.5 Tons of Turtle Meat,” Minneapolis Star and Tribune, 3 Nov 2015; Wikipedia; “Snapping Turtle Boneless Meat (5 lb.),” Wholey. wholey.com/snapping-turtle-meat/. Accessed 18 Sept 2018.)

Read more about Pat Thielen in Robert George Thielen: The Legend of “Pat” Thielen, available for purchase from the Shakopee Heritage Society.

Coca Cola (July 1890)

Events

by David R. Schleper

On July 11, 1890, Daniel M. Storer was a merchant in Shakopee. In his diary, he noted, “The Van Houten Coca Cola folks were in our store today, giving people a cup of Coca Cola free. They had a nice young lady to dish it out, a Miss Cora Ellis of Austin, Minnesota.”

The Van Houten Coca Cola Company was mostly focused on chocolate. Coenraad Johannes Van Houten (1801-1887) was a Dutch chemist and chocolate manufacturer who in 1828 invented the process that is used to turn roasted cacao beans into cocoa powder. His method was an inexpensive way of removing much of the cocoa butter from the nib, or center of the beans, using a hydraulic press, and adding alkaline salts (potassium carbonate or sodium carbonate) so that the cocoa powder would mix readily with water or milk. The resulting cocoa powder can be used to make chocolate milk and other delicacies.

But in the 1890s, the Van Houten Coca Cola Company was in Shakopee to get the Shakopee people to try coca cola!

Before coca cola happened, in 1863 a Parisian chemist, Angelo Mariani, combined coca and wine. It was very popular, and even Pope Leo XIII used to carry a flask of Vin Marian, which he used regularly. In fact, he even gave Mariani a medal!

After the Civil War, Dr. John Stith Pemberton, a morphine addict following an injury in the war, set up to make his own version of Vin Marian, with coca and wine. But as Pemberton’s business started to take off, a prohibition was passed in his county in Georgia, 34 years before the 18th Amendment. So French Wine Coca was illegal because of the alcohol, not the cocaine.

Pemberton was smart. He replaced the wine in the formula with sugar syrup. His new product was debuted in 1886 as Coca-Cola, the temperance drink. Dr. John Stith Pemberton, a pharmacist and inventor of patent medicines, sold the first coca cola at Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta, George.

The beverage was named Coca-Cola because, originally, the stimulant mixed in the beverage was coca leaves from South America, which the drug cocaine is derived from. In addition, the drink was flavored using kola nuts, also acting as the beverage’s source of caffeine. Pemberton called for five ounces of coca leaf per gallon of syrup, a significant dose. In 1891, Candler claimed his formula, altered extensively from Pemberton’s original, contained only a tenth of this amount.

Coca-Cola was an intellectual beverage among well-off whites, especially in the segregated soda fountains. This changed when the company started selling it in bottles in 1899. Anyone with a nickel could now drink the cocaine-infused beverage. In The Atlantic, an article showed that southern newspapers reported that African Americans were becoming “negro cocaine fiends” who drank Coca-Cola, and then were raping white women. I am not kidding!

Coca-Cola once contained an estimated nine milligrams of cocaine per glass. So people in Shakopee were drinking a bit of cocaine, starting in 1890.

By 1903, the manager of Coca-Cola bowed to white fears and removed the cocaine, adding more sugar and caffeine.

Cocaine wasn’t even illegal until 1914, 11 years after Coca-Cola changed its recipe.

The Coca-Cola we know today still contains coca — but the ecgonine alkaloid is removed from it. Perfecting that extraction took until 1929, so before that there were still trace amounts of coca’s psychoactive elements in Coca-Cola.

So in July of 1890, people in Shakopee stopped in and got a drink of Coca-Cola, cocaine and all.

On July 13, 1890, Daniel again commented in his diary. “The Coca Cola folks got done with us today, and went to Hastings. They sold a good deal of goods while here, and we bought some besides, so as to have it in stock.”

(From The Diary of Daniel M. Storer from 1849 to 1905: A Pioneer Builder and Merchant in Shakopee, Minnesota by Shakopee Heritage Society, 2003, p. 183; “Why We Took Cocaine Out of Soda”, The Atlantic, 31 Jan. 2013; Wikipedia.)

The Stagecoach Museum (1951-1981)

Places

By David R. Schleper

Stagecoach Museum promotional material
Stagecoach Museum promotional material

Before Valleyfair and the Renaissance Festival, there was the Stagecoach Museum. From 1951 to 1981, Ozzie and Marie Klavestad, proprietors, dressed in old western garb and greeted the visitors one by one. The Stagecoach Museum was located on Highway 101 between Savage and Shakopee.

Ozzie and Marie developed the Stagecoach Museum complex to preserve Americana. It was built on the site of the former Gellenbeck Stage Stop (1849-1880). The area is a valley near the Minnesota River, and near the Dakota’s Maka Yusota, or Boiling Springs.

The museum and restaurant displayed a collection of 3,000 guns that Ozzie owned. A lifelong collector, Ozzie amassed an assemblage of firearms including engraved rifles belonging to Jesse James, Annie Oakley, and Buffalo Bill Cody on the walls. A four-barrel, percussion plains rifle of Chief Shakopee was also there.

Stagecoach Museum postcard
Stagecoach Museum postcard

The restaurant had waitresses dressed as cowgirls, with earrings that were little tiny six shooters that actually shot. Ozzie often came out looking like Wild Bill Hickok, shooting his pistols into the ceilings. One area had a Silver Dollar Bar, with silver dollars under glass. Heads of dead animals, such as buffalo and elk, were on the walls. A player piano played by itself and an old vending machine, called a mutoscope, had picture shows on it – put in a penny, turn a crank on the side, and watch the pictures flip through to appear like a movie!

Behind the museum was Sand Burr Gulch, which was a replica of a western town with over 20 buildings containing 75 animated life-size figures synchronized with recordings in appropriate settings. It recreated an Old West street complete with blacksmith, barber shop, saloon, an underground gold mine, and the Palace which had an animated band playing Sousa’s music. On Sundays fast-draw shoot-outs happened in the Old West town.

Next to the museum was the Bella Union Opera House, where actors put on “mellerdramas” of yesteryear, where the audience could hiss the villains and cheer the heroes as loud as they wanted.

The Stagecoach Players Company was founded in 1962 by Wendell Josal (president and managing director) and Robert Moulton (vice-president and artistic director) to perform melodramas with musical olios in the opera house of the Stagecoach complex. In 1971, Moulton was succeeded by Lee Adey. The troupe mounted 44 productions in 18 years, playing to over 300,000 people in 1,898 performances as a commercial company.

Stagecoach Museum, circa 1978
Stagecoach Museum, circa 1978

Ozzie loved guns. He bought his first cap gun at the age of five and owned over 100 before he turned 18. He also was fascinated with the western frontier. Ozzie loved history. He read all the time: history of the West and Civil War history. The Stagecoach became a public display case for his obsessions.

For 30 years, Ozzie and Marie ran their enterprise, with help from a few hired hands who helped run the restaurant and the theater, and kept the place running. By 1981, Ozzie and Marie Klavestad retired and sold the property. Though it was supposed to carry on the tradition, nothing happened, and the Stagecoach Museum began the slow descent of time into rubble. When Ozzie died in a nursing home in 1986, his abandoned dream museum was already in broken fragments.

In 1996, five fire departments burned the remnants of the restaurant, bar, Sand Burr Gulch, and Bella Union Opera House.

And so, the Stagecoach is just a memory.

(Information from Bea Nordstrom, Scott County History Museum, and “How the West Was Lost” by Joseph Hart, City Pages, Oct. 9, 1996.)

The Gellenbeck Stage Stop (1849-1880)

Places

By David R. Schleper

The Gellenbeck Stage Stop, also known as the Four-Mile House, was located near Highway 101, at Stagecoach Road. It was called Four-Mile House because it was four miles from Shakopee.

Stagecoaches came from St. Paul and Fort Snelling via the Indian trails later called Old Shakopee Road. They crossed the Rivière Saint-Pierre (St. Peter’s River), which became the Minnesota River on June 19, 1852. The stagecoaches continued via the Bloomington Ferry. Then the stagecoaches head down to Shakopee. The stages were called “swift wagons” by the Dakota since they kept the speed to 15 miles per hour.

The stagecoach companies used riding coaches to open air wagons to winter sleighs. A wagon would be used instead of a coach over muddy spring roads, or a sleigh would be used in the winter. The stagecoach got its name from the fact that it traveled by stages, usually about ten miles, and then the coach changed horses providing the passengers with as quick a ride as possible. The stagecoaches opened the interior lands that were not accessible by the Minnesota River.

Amherst Willoughby, a former stagecoach driver from Chicago, and his partner Simon Powers, opened the first stagecoach company in Minnesota in the spring of 1849. Another company also started a stagecoach in 1851, but after a few seasons, they agreed to divide the routes, and Willoughby and Powers kept the lines to Shakopee. By 1854, the two dissolved their partnership, with Willoughby gaining control of the livery stables and Powers assuming control of the coaches. Powers continued to run passage lines to Shakopee.

The stagecoaches had to deal with the road’s poor condition. One traveler, Roy Johnson, called it “a succession of swamps, corduroy bridges, holes, and stumps.” Some people also complained about the mosquito problem. According to Manton Marble, “They are larger than the usual size, they are more painful, their attack more bold and determined, and their number like the atoms in the air.”

The stage stops, such as the Gellenbeck Stage Stop, became an important local gathering point. They often had taverns, and it served as a place to hear the latest news, and was often used for public meetings. It was also a place where the stagecoach left mail. In most places, the stage stops also included a family residence. The Gellenbeck Stage Stop was a popular place. Another stage stop was located in downtown Shakopee.

In 1936, at age 90, E. Judson Pond remembered the first time a stagecoach arrived in Shakopee. It arrived on Oct. 6, 1853, with four horses leading the way.

In 1861, Gellenbeck Stage Stop became part of history just north of the stop. In April 1861, Fort Sumter was fired upon, and the Civil War began. President Abraham Lincoln asked for 75,000 volunteers and the famous Minnesota First gathered north of the Gellenbeck Stage Stop. The men marched from this mustering point along the stage route to the vacated Fort Snelling.

Stagecoaches flourished until 1880, when railroads became the mode of travel. And as for the Gellenbeck Stage Stop? It later became the Stagecoach Museum from 1951 until 1981.

(Information from Bea Nordstrom, Scott County History Museum, and “How the West Was Lost” by Joseph Hart, City Pages, Oct. 9, 1996.)

Reiss Block/Opera House/House of Hoy (1883-1986)

Places

By David R. Schleper

Skat tournament participants outside the Opera House, April 24, 1905
Skat tournament participants outside the opera house, April 24, 1905

George Reis paid $1000 in 1876 for the undeveloped property at the northeast corner of First Avenue and Holmes Street in Shakopee. In January 1883, George Reis built a two-story brick building that was to house a hardware store and another business on the first floor, and a “commodious opera house and dance hall” on the second floor. (The façade misspelled the original owner’s name as Reiss, instead of Reis.)

Two stories in height, it used a channel of contrasting yellow brick and decorative arches to set off its many windows, noted Jack El-Hai. The top of the building had a brick cornice with triangular projections. The first floor provided a home for two retail stores, including Reis’s own hardware shop, and the second floor contained the opera house that could seat an audience of 350. According to the St. Paul Daily Globe, the opera companies “can now make this city one of their list of good towns to go to.”

In the opera house, the interior decoration, all of the scenery, and two stage curtains were artistically painted by local artist John Kodylek.

Ladies standing on a platform at a street fair on First Avenue between Holmes and Lewis streets
Ladies standing on a platform at a street fair across from the Reiss Building

Many people may remember John Kodylek. He painted the artwork at Babe’s Place in Shakopee. (Unfortunately, the art work was torn down this last year). Local artist and Bohemian Master John Kodylek painted the murals in the 1880s. Kodylek was born in Austria on June 22, 1845. He entered the Academy of Arts in Prague, Bohemia when he was 14 years old and remained there three years. He immigrated to New York in 1865 and went to St. Joseph, Missouri for two years, where he married Clara Hundt on May 14, 1867. They had two children, Julia and Arnold. Kodylek next moved to Sioux City, Iowa for three years. Later he moved to St. Paul, Minnesota. He moved to Shakopee in 1880 where he opened an art gallery.

Once the opera house was open, a group of local amateurs staged Macbeth as a grand opening.

In 1890, Sheriff Theodore Weiland bought the building from George Reis for $4000. Sheriff Weiland was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin on Jan. 5, 1849. He came to Scott County in 1864. He was the sheriff in 1879, and had a reputation for catching horse thieves. He became mayor of Shakopee for four years, starting in 1891.

North side of First Avenue, between Holmes and Lewis streets, looking west
North side of First Avenue, between Holmes and Lewis streets, looking west, ca. 1960. The Reiss Building is on the corner.

Around 1900, a two-story addition was built at the rear of the structure. The triangular roof projections were removed. Theodore Weiland renovated the first floor, and laid a new hardwood dance floor on the second floor. This second floor added frescoes and it was tastefully decorated.

Weiland owned the building until about 1913. At that time, it was bought by Louis Elmer Dawson. Dawson owned the building until 1968, when Mr. and Mrs. Hoy bought it.

Though only four people owned the Reiss Block, there were several incarnations of the first floor. While it started as Reis’s hardware store, it also included a hamburger shop, a soda fountain, a theatre, a grocery store, a pool room, and several bakeries. The upstairs was used for plays, basketball games, high school graduations, dances, and other community events. Gordy Gelhaye remembered playing basketball in the upstairs of the Reis building. He remembered paying 25 or 50 cents to use the upstairs for all afternoon. The only problem is that it didn’t have any showers, so when the new gymnasium and showers were built at Central Elementary School, the basketball players were very happy.

Diane Sexton remembered her grandma, who was around during the Prohibition Era. Her grandma remembered “the old wood floor shook with dancing!”

The House of Hoy, a bar, opened in the first floor in 1957. The Hoys rented the building from Louis Elmer Dawson, and then bought it from his estate in 1968. At this time, there were other businesses on the first floor, including an auto supply store and a children’s dress shop. Upstairs was a publishing company. This was the last business upstairs.

Looking west on First Avenue from Fuller Street
Looking west on First Avenue from Fuller Street, 1959. The corner of the Reiss Building can be seen.

The Hoys sold the bar business to James Corniea in 1969. The street level part of the building continued to be used, but the opera house on the second floor sat vacant, in need of maintenance. There were several bars in the downstairs building, including Cactus Jack’s, which shut down in September 1985.

The publishing company upstairs was Suel Publishing which published the Shakopee Valley News. It was owned by Cormac, Brendan, and John Suel, three brothers from Robbinsdale, Minnesota.

The Reiss Building was placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1979. The city bought it to be used as a free right-turn lane. They demolished the building in 1986.

A book, Lost Minnesota: Stories of Vanished Places by Jack El-Hai compiled and profiled 89 historic buildings, including the Reis Block, which was torn down in 1986. (It also included the Merchants’ Hotel/Conter Hotel/Pelham Hotel, also in Shakopee, which was leveled in 1987.)

(Some information from History of the Minnesota Valley: Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota by Rev. Edward D. Neill, 1882 by North Star Publishing Company; St. Paul Daily Globe, Jan. 23, 1883; “Wrecking ball writes final chapter of House of Hoy’s 103-year history by Beth Forkner Moe, Shakopee Valley News, Dec. 24, 1986; and Lost Minnesota: Stories of Vanished Places by Jack El-Hai, 2000, University of Minnesota Press.)

Glass Plate Photos

Photos

We recently acquired a donation of glass plate negatives from Beth Strunk, which we have scanned and are posting, for your viewing pleasure, in the below gallery.

Thanks to Beth for her donation!

We welcome photo donations. If you are interested in donating photos, slides, or negatives, please contact us. Even the early 2020s are considered history. We can also scan and return items.

Click on a thumbnail to view a full-sized image.

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