Part I: The Man who gave Cottage Grove its name Would James Sullivan Norris recognize the city he gave a name to, today? Maybe that’s a silly question. Coming to Washington County from Maine and …
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Part I: The Man who gave Cottage Grove its name
Would James Sullivan Norris recognize the city he gave a name to, today?
Maybe that’s a silly question. Coming to Washington County from Maine and staking a claim where Whispering Gardens now stands, Norris was no stranger to change.
Born in 1810 in New England, he spent time at different places in present Taylor and Washington County before staking a claim just northeast of where the Cottage Grove Ravine ends.
He was, you see, a farmer—coming to break sod where before there was prairie and trees, at least in terms of native vegetation. So who was James Sullivan Norris exactly?
In the first place, and apart from farming, he was a politi- cian, serving in the Minnesota Territorial Legislature when state government met across the interstate from where it does now. In the second, he was a pioneer, coming to St. Croix Falls before heading south on the St. Croix River to Afton and then Grey Cloud Island. Join us over the next few weeks as we explore just what can be known—and what can’t—about this illustrious Cottage Grove personage. Just who was the founder of Cottage Grove?