20 years ago

SOUTH WASHINGTON COUNTY BULLETIN June 19, 2002 Reportedly looking to the future 20 years back, a piece by staff writer Mathias Boden had 3M employees and officials gather at the Cottage Grove golf course,” together with Mayor Sandy Shiely, who proclaimed Innovation Day on the local company’s 100th anniversary.

30 years ago SOUTH WASHINGTON COUNTY BULLETIN June 25, 1992 Holding forth in an unsigned editorial, the Bulletin decreed that the Newport City Council had shown that government, in spite of private opinions, wasn’t always “a dirty word.”

The reason for this vote of confidence in Newport had to do with a public hearing in which the council had revoked a conditional use permit related to truck use, after residents made known that truck traffic and property values, did not mix.

Many people in 1992 were sick and tired of government— or even angry—but Newport had helped restore a little faith in the institution.

Meanwhile, the Karaoke craze had officially hit, with operator John Klein saying that if people got applause “they’ll be there the next four weeks.”

40 years ago THE WASHINGTON COUNTY BULLETIN June 24, 1982 Reporting that “Community Education” wanted to keep the Park Junior High open, ISD 833 was considering a proposal to rent space in the building reportedly closed for declining enrollment and budget reasons.

The worst case scenario according to a proposal from the Community Education building use committee, was that the plan would break even.

June 17, 1982

Forty years and two weeks ago, the Washington County Bulletin reported that a Woodbury dairy farmer named Eugene Bremenschneider and family had received a six-month “reprieve” on the council’s mobile home ordinance, being granted a variance. Bremenschneider and family, formerly of Newport, had only a variance to hope on as their special use permit had already expired for the mobile home on their Woodbury farm.

50 years ago THE WASHINGTON COUNTY BULLETIN June 15, 1972 Starting the third week of June at the Cottage Grove Shopping Center, the annual summer festival sponsored by the Cottage Grove Jaycees would run from eight in the morning to eleven at night.

In the meantime, a city engineer was authorized to “prepare final plans” in relation to a storm sewer project in the West Draw part of town. With 50 people appearing at a public hearing on the matter, just two objections were heard, one from landowner Charles Woodward and another from a precision engineering firm unrelated to the city.

“This doesn’t look too good to us,” the firm president said in public session. “We’ll have a $2,500 assessment and that may be peanuts to you, but to us it’s a pretty big issue.” Going on to say that a storm sewer on site was unneeded due to drainage patterns, the firm president added, “It won’t benefit our land and still we’re forced to pay a tremendous price for something we don’t need.”

With 33.8 acres included in a nearby development for the Grant Plaza Center and SuperValu Parade Store, then Mayor Roger Peterson answered a question from the audience.

“There can be a limited amount of development in the West Draw with the use of holding ponds,” he told those assembled.

In other news from 50 years ago, the St. Paul Park Council greenlit an expansion of the Northwestern Refinery, several streets and alleys being vacated (effectively ruled non-existent) on the city map.

June 9, 1972

Up in Newport from 50 years ago, the Council declared a moratorium (stopping action) on apartment building, with multiple dwelling units suffering from the council’s action. The reason for the freeze, the news stated, was because the ratio of multi-unit apartments to single-family homes was becoming too great, with city engineer Hendrickson saying the sewer system was based on single-family units. While apartments were built toward Maplewood, the city fire marshal reportedly “wouldn’t allow occupancy” due to what was deemed insufficient water pressure, should there be a fire.

Also coming in from June 9 of 1972, the St. Paul Park Council ruled that its sewer system would not extend outside the village, after an inquiry from one John Washburn sought a feasibility assessment on providing water to three Cottage Grove apartment buildings proposed for 85th and Granada, or next to Lincoln Street in St. Paul Park. With motion from Councilman Harold Cone seconded by Marlyn DeForth, the rejection of extending sewer service outside the Park was to last five years. “The system was built for the village proper,” DeForth said with regard to extension and questions of handling peak capacity.

Modern Cottage Grove starts to incorporate 62 years ago THE REPORTER June 24, 1960 There were at least two reasons why South Washington County had failed to develop with the rest of the Twin Cities it was reported from June 24, 1960.

One was a lack of easy access, and another was empty lots in St. Paul. With the Reporter saying that an organized plan from the South Washington County Planning Commission was good until 1980, there was other news as well—a new and pre-planned Country Club at Thompson Grove. Down at Grey Cloud, meanwhile, the lack of any concrete contract or part thereof for the Shiely company despite its status as “an area taxpayer” came up at the town meeting, while a bounty price of 25 cents was offered on gophers, then tearing up the streets.

Newport, on the other hand, said ‘no’ to putting a bounty on gopher heads as a block-long extension of Ford Road called Larry’s Lane was “full of holes” and perilous to drive.

June 17, 1960

Among the things happening 62 years ago, the Woodbury town board reportedly sought to issue ID cards for residents, as bad actors from elsewhere claiming to be from Woodbury had been using the town dump for dumping purposes.

New building codes in Woodbury, meanwhile, stipulated that a three-bedroom home have a minimum of 960 square feet of space, with the smallest bedroom no smaller than 90 square feet. Basement homes would also be allowed within the limits of Woodbury, it was made known.

Down in St. Paul Park, meanwhile, some not nice vandals had deposited paint thinner on a residence and broke in to a local business, the work believed to be that of young people.

Also in St. Paul Park but on a different note, Father William J. Kenney had been assigned to St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church by archbishop William O’Brady.

Finally and writing in Woodbury Heightlites, Mrs. Margaret Peck explained to disgruntled Woodbury residents that not all four elementary schools could be built at once, meaning in turn that Woodbury had come up last in the running for school infrastructure, after another school on what was then known as “the Pullman site.”

The first of four schools and centrally located at the time, the plan was to build Pullman first and then work down and around, coming up to Woodbury when the time came to build. In the meantime, there was a building strike, making school construction somewhat uncertain, even as foundations were poured at Pullman.

French-Canadian life THE CATHOLIC BULLETIN June 29, 1912 Where Large Families Abound French-Canadians a prolific (people) Now number 3,300,000— large families the rule Encouraged by the Government and fostered by religion M. Leroy Beaulieu, one of the best-known French economists, recently said, “Give us 10,000 French-Canadians and we will repeople France.” In this sentence, says Eugene Rouillard in the course of an article on “Where Large Families Abound” in “Extension” for July, he has stated the truth of the situation. France has deliberately restricted its birthrate; the French Canadians have not. As a result the French-Canadians have grown quantitatively as well as qualitatively.

Just across Spring Lake in Dakota County… 164 years ago EMIGRANT AID JOURNAL City of Nininger, Dakota County, Minnesota Territory April 7, 1858 Birds—their usefulness It is a well known fact that the alarming increase of insects and worms in making ravages upon our fruit trees and fruit, not only paralyzes the efforts, and disheartens the hopes of the cultivators, but threatens total destruction to many of the most delicious fruits. So extensive are the ravages, that but very few of our apricots and plums ripen without premature decay from the worm generated by the beetles which surround our trees in the twilight of the evening, in great numbers, when the fruit is quite young. And when the produce of the apple, pear, or peach tree is small, but few of these escape the same fate.

The birds are to the farmer and the gardener of great value. They were designed by the Creator to check the too great increase of insects, and no farmer should suffer them to be wantonly destroyed on the premises. The number of insects, worms, and larvae destroyed by the robin, cat-bird, swallow, sparrow, wren and other small birds, is astonishing. One little family of sparrow will destroy several hundred insects in a single day.

Territorial Dispatch 171 years ago DAKOTA TAWAXITKU KIN/ THE DAKOTA FRIEND June 1851 Natural Ice Houses—In the swamps which lie along the Minnesota river, there are places where the soil, though it supports a rank growth of vegetation, floats upon the surface of the water underneath, and is sometimes elevated ten or fifteen feet in the time of a flood. It is never submerged. Under this thin soil the deep ice which is formed in winter is protected from the action of the heat so effectually that it may be obtained in mid-summer. Indians often procure ice from these natural ice-houses in the month of June, and indeed, it has been brought to the residence of the writer by them as late as the 1st of July.

Truth is of universal application: it is the uniting principle which holds together the moral elements of the universe.