HomeMy WebLinkAboutDutchtownE. Sycamore Street
N. Fourth Street
A History of the Dutchtown Residential Area
Stillwater, Minnesota
by Donald Empson
Funded in part by a grant from the National Park Service
Administered by the Minnesota Historical Society
And
The Heritage Preservation Commission of the
City of Stillwater
St. Groin River
Members of the Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission
JEFF JOHNSON 309 S. FIFTH STREET STILLWATER
ROBERT KIMBREL (CHAIR) 724 W. OAK STREET STILLWATER
BRENT PETERSON 502 W. CHURCHILL STREET STILLWATER
ROGER TOMTEN 718 S. FIFTH STREET STILLWATER
JAY MICHELS 118 lei N. MAIN STREET STILLWATER
HOWARD LIEBERMAN 914 S. GREELEY STREET STILLWATER
KATHERINE B. FRANCIS 9190 ST. CROIX TRAIL N. STILLWATER
FRANK B. LANGER 610 NORTH FIFTH STREET STILLWATER
Cover: A typical Dutchtown residence, this is the Joseph Gesse house that used to be
at 1911 North Second Street; this is a copy of a watercolor painting by_Jo Lutz
Rollins reproduced in the book, Jo published by Croixside Press in 1976.
A History of the Dutchtown Residential Area
STILLWATER, MINNESOTA
Researched and Written by
DONALD EMPSON
EMPSON ARCHIVES
P.O. Box 791
STILLWATER, MN 55082
(651) 351-0172
OCTOBER, 1998
Funded in part by a Grant from the National Park Service
Administered by the Minnesota Historical Society
And
The Heritage Preservation Commission of the
City of Stillwater
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract Page 1
With Gratitude to Page 2
Introduction Page 3
Research Design Page 5
Preface Page 7
Before Dutchtown Page 9
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880 Page 13
Dutchtown, 1880-1894 Page 53
The Transition Years, 1894-1902 Page 71
The Waning Time, 1902-1960 Page 75
The Metamorphosis, 1950-Present Page 95
Appendix A Page 99
Appendix B Page 109
Appendix C Page 113
Contexts Page 119
Bibliography Page 121
Recommendations Page 125
Index Page 127
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION FUND SUPPORT
AND NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY
This project has been financed in part with Federal funds from the National
Park Service, Department of Interior, through the Minnesota Historical
Society under provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act as
amended. However the contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the
views or policies of the Department of the Interior, nor does the mention of
trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or
recommendation by the Department of the Interior.
Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the U.S. Department of Interior prohibits
discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, or handicap in its
federally assisted program. If you believe you have been discriminated
against in any program activity, or facility as described above, or if you desire
further information, please write to: Office of Equal Opportunity, U.S.
Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., 20240.
ABSTRACT
One hundred and fourteen properties within an area of approximately
one hundred and fifty acres were surveyed for inclusion on the National
Register of Historic Places. These properties are located in Stillwater,
Washington County, Minnesota in an area designated as the Dutchtown
HPPA. As a result of my survey I believe there are three properties within
the area that might be considered for nomination to the National Register of
Historic Places.
The complete papers generated by this survey willbe deposited with
the City of Stillwater, and the Minnesota Historical Society.
1
WITH GRATITUDE TO:
Brent Peterson, Director of Research of the Warden's House Museum; Barry
Stack, surveyor; Greg Brick, St. Louis researcher; and Angela Anderson,
German translator. John Baer of the Washington County Surveyor's Office;
Sue Fitzgerald of the Department of Development for the City of Stillwater;
Klayton Eckles, Stillwater City Engineer; the staff of the Stillwater Public
Library; Heritage Preservation Commission members; and David Reichow,
Captain, Stillwater Fire Department. And special thanks to Mead Stone for
his help with enhancing and printing the photographs.
For their help and support, I would like to thank the following
Dutchtown residents and descendants:
Deborah DeSteno
Ralph Diethert
Ned Windmiller
Dorothy & Emil Vollmer
Jack Gilbert
David & Evelyn Linner
Jackie and Roy Coleman
Herbert Balfanz
Hazel Winterlin
Barry Bailey
Jane Schwartz
Paul Deleon
Douglas & Barbara Vollmer
Dr. Frederick Kalinoff, Jr.
Judy Foster
Kim Wolf
Helen Wolf
George Kahl
Robert Anderson
...and my particular thanks to Louise Berg and Donald Teske for their
enthusiasm and personal archives.
2
INTRODUCTION
Between December 1, 1997, and June 1, 1998, Empson Archives
conducted a National Register survey of the Dutchtown HPPA residential
area of Stillwater, Washington County, Minnesota. The project area lay
within (but did not include entirely) Government Lots 2, 3, and 4 of Section
21, Township 30, Range 20.
Included within the survey area are Blocks 24 to 57 of Carli &
Schulenburg's Addition to Stillwater.
The objective of the study was to conduct an intensive historical survey
of the Dutchtown residential neighborhood bounded by, or on a line with,
North Fourth Street on the West; The St. Croix River on the East; East
Sycamore Street on the South; and East Alder Street on the North. There
are 114 structures within this survey area covering roughly 150 acres.
The work was conducted between December 1st, 1997 and June 1st,
1998 by Donald Empson, the principal investigator; and his wife, Kathleen
Vadnais.
Donald Empson, the principal investigator, meets the Secretary of the
Interior's Professional Qualifications Standards.
Many residents of the survey area contributed to the research for this
project by answering questions about their homes and the neighborhood. I
have acknowledged these individuals on the previous page, in the text, and
on the Inventory Forms regarding their particular homes.
Particular thanks to Brent T. Peterson, a fellow historian, and a
Commissioner on the Stillwater Historic Preservation Commission, for his
corrections to this manuscript, and for his bringing some historic house
photographs to my attention. Also many thanks to Sue Fitzgerald,
coordinator to the Stillwater Historic Preservation Commission, for her
efforts in expediting the work of this survey.
The property types in this survey included dwellings, associated
garages and carriage houses, outbuildings, objects and structures, and
businesses. These properties were located, photographed and their physical
descriptions documented. The project team compiled building files on each
inventoried site for the City of Stillwater's Heritage Preservation
Commission. A project report was prepared for the City of Stillwater and for
the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office. The format of the final
report is determined by regulations of the Minnesota Historical Society.
3
Introductionn
Properties within the Dutchtown residential area were evaluated for
preliminary National Register significance in terms of one appropriate
statewide historic contexts: "St. Croix Valley Triangle Lumbering (1843-
1914)." The project team consulted the Stillwater historic context study
(Vogel 1993) in evaluating local significance and determined the appropriate
context was: "Development of Residential Neighborhoods in Stillwater,
1850's-1940's. "
This effort is part of the on -going program of the Minnesota Historical
Society's State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) which began after
passage of the Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended. The SHPO
administers the National Register of Historic Places program in Minnesota.
In the early years of this program, the SHPO concentrated on basic
inventories of the 87 counties in Minnesota on a county -by -county basis.
Stillwater established a Heritage Preservation Commission in 1973
and, in conjunction with a federal grant from the Minnesota SHPO,
contracted for is first National Register survey of the downtown commercial
area in 1988. This study led to the placing of Stillwater's downtown
commercial area on the National Register in 1991.
In 1992-3, the Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC)
received a Certified Local Government (CLG) grant and sponsored a study of
historic contexts in the city, conducted by Robert C. Vogel and Associates.
The final report, "Stillwater Historic Contexts: A Comprehensive
Planning Approach," was completed in July 1993. The Stillwater HPC has
divided the city's neighborhoods into Historic Preservation Planning Areas
(HPPAs) and intends to proceed with systematic surveys of all Stillwater
neighborhoods over the next decade. The current report summarizes the
results of the fourth HPPA to be systemically surveyed.
The three previous surveys were of the North Hill (Original Town) the
South Hill (Original Town), and the Greeley Residential Area.
The Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission has indicated that it
will make selected parts of this survey history available to the residents of
the area. It is also anticipated that Donald Empson, the principal
investigator, will offer an historical tour of the area during the summer of
1998.
4
RESEARCH DESIGN
The project area lay within (but did not include entirely) Government
Lots 2, 3, and 4 of Section 21, Township 30, Range 20. Included within the
survey area are Blocks 24 to 57 of Carli & Schulenburg's Addition to
Stillwater.
We have done a thorough study of the area, despite the considerable
time and money constraints. We have used the yearly tax assessor's
records collected in the State Archives and available on microfilm,
1861-1900, at the Stillwater Public Library --a gift of Rivertown Restoration.
These records were generated much the same way they are today. Every year
the tax assessor viewed all the properties in the city and made an estimate of
the market value of the land and the improvements. By following a property
through the years, it is usually possible to determine when the value jumped
from that of a lot only to that of a lot with a building on it. This record also
contains the name of the property owner through the years. While this kind
of research is tedious in the extreme, it gave us accurate information that can
be found in no other way.
(Two previous surveys have used the date of the building found on the
assessment card at the tax assessor's office. Before the turn of the century,
these dates are notoriously inaccurate, an admission readily made by the tax
assessor's office itself.)
Rivertown Restoration recently paid to have the Stillwater building
permit applications, 1886-1940, microfilmed. They, along with an index
compiled by Kay Thueson, are available at the Stillwater Public Library. The
applications give the date of building, the size of the structure, name of the
owner, sometimes the name of the builder and architect, and other incidental
information. There are also applications for repairs and remodeling. This
information was invaluable and essential for this study.
There are useful records available in the Water Department, the Fire
Department, and the Public Works Department and in the Minutes of
the Stillwater City Council that have never been used before. The
Sanborn Insurance Maps did not illustrate the residential area, but they
were useful in following the history of the some of the businesses. There are
a number of unpublished manuscripts and some published
reminiscences which contained useful information, but since they are often
inaccurate, we only quoted them when we could verify their information from
another source. In general, we used only original sources for our research.
5
Research Design
For visual aids, there are two Bird's Eye View Maps of Stillwater
drawn in 1869, and again in 1879. With their accurate representations of
each house and building, these were extremely useful, and we reproduced
sections of both maps in the text of this report.
We talked to the residents of the area in cases where we had some
uncertainties; when convenient we obtained copies of Property Abstracts.
We also used the land records at the office of the Recorder of Deeds.
We also used the Stillwater City Directories; consulted the local
newspapers on microfilm at the Stillwater Public Library, and pursued
other research materials that were useful.
We incorporated the information gleaned from our research in the
context of Robert Vogel's Stillwater Historic Contexts and other research
done previously in Stillwater.
We reviewed the survey work on the properties prepared by the
Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission.
We identified, dated, and cataloged the 114 properties in the
Preservation Planning Area in the manner required by the Minnesota
Historical Society.
We discussed the architectural styles in the Preservation Planning Area
and compared them to other Stillwater neighborhoods.
We photographed all properties.
We have prepared a report that describes the development of the area,
recommendations for future survey work, and evaluated the possibility of
properties that might be eligible for local historic designation and/or eligible
for the National Register of Historic Places. We are not making any
nominations ourselves. We have discussed any possible planning methods for
preservation of historic structures, landscapes, and neighborhoods.
We have attended three meetings with the Stillwater H.P.C.
The work was conducted between December 1st, 1997 and June 1st, 1998
by Donald Empson, the principal investigator and his wife, Kathleen
Vadnais.
6
PREFACE
To outsiders, the auslanders, it was known as Dutchtown; but to the
German inhabitants of this riverside community at the north end of
Stillwater, the proper name of their settlement was Charlottenburg.
Begun in 1853, when the St. Louis, Missouri, firm of the Schulenburg
and Boeckeler Lumber Company built a sawmill at the foot of Sycamore
Street, the community existed until 1902 as a company mil town. The Mill
provided employment for its residents, sold them goods from its own company
store, and housed them in modest homes built by the company on lots owned
by the company.
The community formed a roughly rectangular shape, with the
waterfront Mill at the foot of E. Sycamore Street as its southeast corner, to
the Schulenburg elementary school at N. Second Street and E. Willow Street
as its northwest corner. Separated by almost a mile from downtown
Stillwater, the laboring residents of this community spoke and wrote in
German, observed their own customs and traditions, and often intermarried
with one another.
In time, as the wealthier bosses and foremen working in the Mill built
their homes in more desirable areas of Stillwater, Dutchtown continued to be
a place almost exclusively of small houses and low income laborers. Since
the closing of the mill in 1902, Dutchtown, with its hilly and rocky
geography, became a forgotten community —without city water and sewer,
largely without sidewalks, without many of the civic amenities enjoyed by the
other residents of Stillwater.
Today Dutchtown is undergoing a metamorphosis. With its
precipitous hills and river views, with its inexpensive lots and old houses,
realtors and developers are purchasing the houses to demolish them, and in
their place build new expensive suburban homes. As more of these lavish
homes are built, their owners will demand city sewer and water and,
eventually the costs of the assessments may well force the sale of any of the
old houses remaining.
This is unfortunate, because Dutchtown is a unique place —an example
of a lumber mill town during the period when lumber built the St. Croix
Valley and indeed, fueled much of the growth in eastern Minnesota. Today
there are enough vestiges of Dutchtown remaining to glimpse the flavor and
color of the original village. Tomorrow it may well be nothing more
picturesque and significant than another expensive suburban enclave.
7
Dedicated to
James Taylor Dunn
who introduced me to St. Croix Valley
history over 30 years ago.
8
BEFORE DUTCHTOWN
In 1840, the year of the first white settlement in the St. Croix Valley, a
pioneer fur trader and politician, Joseph R. Brown, claimed a townsite at the
head of Lake St. Croix within the area that later became Dutchtown.
Brown recorded the first deed in the St. Croix Valley establishing his
townsite, which he named Dacotah, as the county seat of the newly formed
St. Croix County, Wisconsin Territory. His claim, made eight years before
the first government survey of the Stillwater area, reads, in part,
"...a quarter section of land belonging to the United
States, and occupied by Joseph R. Brown, situated at the head of
Lake St. Croix bounded on the north by stream known by the
name of Pine Creek [now Brown's Creek] which falls into the St.
Croix, and bounded on the east by Lake St. Croix....l
In his first year, Brown had delegated the building of a "shell of an
ambitious framed building destined to serve as hotel, courthouse, and county
offices, and behind it, a small building of stone for the jail." Brown himself
helped build another building for a residence: "a commodious house of
tamarack logs, halved together at the corners and chinked with clay. The
windowless walls were plastered over with more clay in an effort to make the
structure less drafty, which gave the place an appearance not unlike the
adobes of lower California."2
At a Board of County Commissioner's meeting, November 18t, 1841, the
Commissioners were anxious to see the buildings completed at Dacotah, the
county seat, and ordered
`...that the clerk advertise for proposals to be received
until the first Monday in July next, for building a jail, Court
House, and offices for St. Croix County at Dacotah according to
plan in office of Clerk of Board of Commissioners. Said
buildings to be commenced by the first of May, 1843, and
completed on or before the 1st day of July, 1845; payments to be
made in half yearly installments from the commencement of the
work; proposals to be accompanied by the name of one or more
I Book A, Register of Deeds, St. Croix County, Wisconsin Territory, page 1-2
2 For this description, and the fascinating story of Joseph R. Brown, see Joseph R. Brown,
Adventurer On the Minnesota Frontier, by Nancy & Robert Goodman. Lone Oak Press,
Rochester, Minnesota. 1996. Page 196.
9
Before Dutchtown
responsible persons who will be sureties for the completion of the
work according to contract. "3
At another Commissioner's meeting, held at Dacotah, July 4, 1842, the
Commissioners designated a 1 mil tax, estimated at $65, to build a
schoolhouse at Dacotah.4
But within two years, Brown's political fortunes and ambitions had
changed to accommodate his new circumstances, and he had no further
interest in Dacotah as a townsite. The pretentious half -finished courthouse
fell into ruins, and Brown rented his residence, the Tamarack House, to a
Robert Kennedy who operated it as a hotel for several years.5
A number of years later, the ghosts from Dacotah came back to haunt
Dutchtown. In her reminiscences recorded after the turn of the century,
Lydia Carli, who had lived in Dacotah, remembered that:
`The first death in what is now Stillwater occurred July
14, 1843. The man was named Cole, and his death occurred in
what was known as the Tamarack house, which stood not far
from where the Staples Atlee store is now [at the foot of E.
Sycamore Street]. The following night, a stranger, an elderly
man, whom no one knew, applied for lodgings, and in the
morning, which was the 16th, he was found to be exceedingly no
more. Nobody knew anything about him, not even his name, and
he and the former deceased were buried up in the wilds, half a
mile or so farther north. There was no monument erected or
other evidence to indicate their burial place; but their last repose
is as dreamless and peaceful..."6
During excavation for the railroad coming into Dutchtown in 1870,
the following notice appeared in the Stillwater Gazette:
Bodies Exhumed
Workmen engaged in grading for the railroad, in Carli &
Schulenburg's Addition, a few days since, struck upon the bodies
of two men who had been buried at that place years before any
3 County Commissioner Minutes, St. Croix County, Wisconsin Territory, page 10.
4Ibid, page 14
5 Joseph R. Brown, Adventurer On the Minnesota Frontier, by Nancy & Robert Goodman.
Lone Oak Press, Rochester, Minnesota. 1996. Page 229.
6 History of the St. Croix Valley by Augustus B. Easton, Editor in Chief. Chicago, H. C.
Cooper, Jr. & Co. 1909. Page 9.
10
Before Dutchtown
regular burial ground had been organized, Our informant, Dr.
Carli, states that he remembers the persons well, but cannot
recall their names. They came to this place from below in
August, 1843—twenty seven years ago —at or nearly the same
time. They were both suffering with incurable disease, and died
in forty-eight hours after their arrival. All traces of their humble
burial place had long since disappeared, and all remembrance of
them had faded from the memory of man. 'No stone was there to
show, no tongue to say what was. "7
Today the only reminder of the Tamarack House and the first county
seat in Minnesota, is a plaque mounted in a stone wall in a wayside rest on
the west side of Highway 95, south of E. Willow Street in Stillwater. Had
Brown persevered in his plans for Dacotah, the area of Dutchtown might
today be a very different place indeed.
' Stillwater Gazette, October 29, 1870.
11
12
CHARLOTTENBURG, 1853-1880
In 1840, Queen Victoria, 21 years old, married her first cousin, Prince
Albert. Charles Darwin published his first book, Zoology of the Voyage of the
Beagle. In the United States of America, William Henry Harrison defeated
Martin Van Buren for the Presidency. On the Western frontier, the city of
St. Louis, Missouri, reached a population of 22,640 people —an increase of
250 percent over the previous decade.
During one of the 1,721 steamboat arrivals in St. Louis that year,' the
German-born immigrant, Adolphus Boeckeler, disembarked from the boat
onto the crowded St. Louis wharf, a young man ready to make his fortune in
the new world. Twenty three years old, Boeckeler was a skilled carpenter,
cabinet maker, and mechanic.2
Plying his trade, however, Boeckeler found it difficult to make a good
living. The previous year, in 1839, the journeymen carpenters in St. Louis
had struck to reduce their working day from twelve- to ten-hour shifts.
Although this change had been gradually accepted by the contractors and
employers, a devastating depression that same year had caused many of the
banks in the country to fail, and authentic cash was in very short supply.
Over the next three years, conditions continued to worsen, and despite
the building boom (over 500 buildings in St. Louis in 1842) wages fell, until
in 1844, skilled carpenters were making only $1.50 a day —comparable to
what an unskilled laborer in another city might earn.
But residents of St. Louis were optimistic. Their city, a mecca of
commerce and industry, was the gateway to a thousand miles of the Upper
Mississippi River Valley, and two thousand miles of the Missouri River. It
was, as one resident put it, the destiny of St. Louis to "Swallow up the East,
bodatiously." 3
Working as a journeyman builder, Boeckeler was acutely aware of the
demand for raw lumber, and in 1844, in association with another German
i The St. Louis Directory, for the Years 1840-1. By Charles Keemle. C. Keemle, Book and
Job Printers, St. Louis. 1840. Page vi.
2 Born in Warstein, Westphalia, Germany, June 22, 1817.
3 St. Louis: An Informal History of the City and Its People, 1764-1865. By Charles van
Ravenswaay. Missouri Historical Society Press, 1991. Page 324.
13
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
immigrant, Frederick Schulenburg, he established a steam saw mill on the
St. Louis waterfront.4
During the next eight years, Schulenburg and Boeckeler observed the
fine white pine lumber that was being rafted to their mill from the St. Croix
Valley. They undoubtedly met many of the early Stillwater lumbermen,
including the founder of Dacotah, Joseph R. Brown, and his brother-in-law,
Christopher Carli, both of whom had rafted logs from Stillwater to St. Louis.
Dr. Carli was a medical man from Germany, a graduate of Heidelberg
University, and a frontier entrepreneur. In the course of one of his trips to
St. Louis, there seems every possibility that Dr. Carli sang the praises of
Stillwater to the two St. Louis lumbermen.
St. Louis to Stillwater
In late summer of 1853, Frederick Schulenburg traveled to Stillwater
by steamboat to assess the city's business possibilities. He must have been
satisfied, because on August 9 he purchased Government Lots 1 and 2,
Section 21, T30, R20 (see Figure 1) from Stillwater mill owner, John
McKusick. However, McKusick who was diverting Brown's Creek into
McKusick Lake thereby to power his own saw mill, was careful to protect
his source of water power, for a clause in the deed read: "John McKusick
reserves the right to direct, control, and use the stream of water running
through such lots by constricting, erecting, or manufacturing dams or
aqueducts or other fixtures....But such erections are not to be made upon the
lots hereby conveyed." For the 116 acres, Schulenburg paid $500—about
$4.30 an acre.5
Although there was no Stillwater newspaper at this time,
Schulenburg's purchase was news in the Minnesota Territory. The St.
Anthony Falls (now Southeast Minneapolis) newspaper wrote "A short
distance above Stillwater, Mr. Shulenburg, of St. Louis has purchased a site
for a mill, and contemplates erecting a steam mill, to run six saws and other
machinery. By the closing of navigation in the fall of 1854, there will be forty
saws in operation on the St. Croix.'
4 Old and New St. Louis, by James Cox. Central Biographical Publishing Company, St.
Louis, 1894, Page 327. Mercantile Industrial and Professional Saint Louis, by E. D. Kargau.
Nixon -Jones Ptg. Co. [1902]. Page 233.
5 F Deeds 26
6 St. Anthony Express, August 27, 1853.
14
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
Two months later, Schulenburg purchased Government Lot 3 from
Nathaniel Greene Wilcox. With that, he also purchased from Wilcox some
land in what would become Wilkin's Addition to Stillwater, 40 acres
northwest of W. Wilkin and N. Fourth Streets. For a total of 173 acres, he
paid $869—about $5 an acre.
Schulenburg also purchased a small slice of Government Lot 4 from
his acquaintance, Dr. Christopher Carli. With these purchases, the firm of
Schulenburg & Boeckeler now controlled a substantial portion of the
riverfront directly north of the fledgling city of Stillwater.
Wilkin St. E.
Figure 1
F Deeds 22
T.30N R.20W
Section 21
[line of Center Street]
Lake St. Croix
15
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
During the winter of 1853-54, Schulenburg and Boeckeler planned
their first steam saw mill on the waterfront near the base of East Sycamore
Street opposite what would become Block 32 of their Addition. (See Figure
2.) The mill was to be a substantial building, two stories in height, 116 x
130 feet. Recalling the early history of the mill, the Stillwater Lumberman
wrote: "Directly opposite the mill and on the west side of the railroad track,
the company built a fine boarding house, lathe -shop, offices, stores, barns,
warehouses, and residences for the corps of employees.'8
Carli & Schulenburg's Addition
While the mill was still in the planning stage, in January, 1854, Dr.
Christopher Carli and Frederick Schulenburg platted their combined
properties into Carli and Schulenburg's Addition to Stillwater.9 This was
the first Addition to the Original City plat and its 57 Blocks more than
doubled the size of Stillwater and extended the city boundaries over a mile
north. Carli and Schulenburg might well have platted a new village with
another name, but they perhaps surmised that the sale of their city lots
would be enhanced by the name of Stillwater.
With this plat, they added a number of new (albeit uncreative) street
names to the city map. The east -west streets were named for trees: Elm,
Aspen, Orange (now Wilkins), Magnolia (now Stillwater), Almond (now St.
Croix), Sycamore, Juniper (now vacated), Spruce (now vacated), Balsam
(now vacated), Poplar, Willow, Hazel and Alder. For the north -south streets
they extended the numbered streets from the original city plat: First,
Second, Third, Fourth, but they added Broadway and Lake Street. Setting a
pattern for future developers in Stillwater, they did not designate any part
of their large addition as a public square or park land.
8 Stillwater Lumberman, April 23, 1875.
9 A Plats 49
16
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
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Figure 2
17
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
Charlottenburg
Schulenburg and Boeckeler retained ownership of Block 24 through
Block 57 of the Addition, including the entire area of Dutchtown, while
Christopher Carli continued in his possession of Blocks 1-23 that lay on the
southern end of the Addition, south of E. Sycamore Street. Schulenburg's
property, the northern end of the plat, was christened with the name,
Charlottenburg, to commemorate Charlotte Lassen who had married
Adolophus Boeckeler in 1854 as this addition was being platted, and
tragically died the following year.10 There was also a steamboat named the
"Charlotte Boeckeler" which belonged to the company.
Charlotte Boeckeler
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Picture Courtesy of the St. Croix Collection, Stillwater Public Library
It was not until some 20 years later that the area, filled with German
workers, became commonly known as Deutschetown, which was soon
corrupted to Dutchtown.11 It was only the inhabitants who knew their
community as Charlottenburg and after the turn of the century when the
Mill closed, and the people dispersed, the "outsiders" name of Dutchtown
became the usual nickname.12
10 St. Louis Business and Industry, 1877, reprinted in The Missouri Historical Society
Bulletin, January, 1960. Page 169..
11 The earliest mention of the term "Dutchtown" I have found occurs in the Daily Sun,
November 1, 1881.
12 Old residents such as Louise Berg and "Colonel" Rumpf remember the name
Charlottenburg, although they did not know its origin. See also the article: "Life in
Charlottenburg Described" in the Stillwater Gazette, June 4, 1943.
18
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
In the second week of April, 1854, Joseph R. Brown, who was by now
living in St. Paul and the editor of the St. Paul newspaper, Minnesota
Pioneer, visited Stillwater and recorded `Messrs Schulenburg, Boeckeler &
Co. are making preparations for the erection of an extensive mill in the upper
part of town, to run some twelve saws..." 13 Brown did not note the fact the
Mill was to be built on the site of his earlier settlement, Dacotah.
In September of that same year, John P. Owens, (for whom the
Stillwater street is named 14) the editor of another St. Paul newspaper, The
Daily Minnesotian, visited Stillwater, and wrote: "The extensive saw mill of
Messrs. Shulenburg & Buckler is nearly ready to commence operations."
Owens also recorded the building of Stillwater's other large sawmill: "I
walked down to the bridge [on the road] a few hundred yards below town, to
examine the extensive works going forward upon the mills of Messrs. Hersey,
Staples & Co. The frame is nearly ready for raising. It will be ready to
commence operations by the opening of navigation next spring."15
The First Lumber
Because the early mills depended upon the river for both the arrival
of the unsawed logs and the shipment of their finished product, they only
operated about seven months when the river was unfrozen. In their first
season, 1854, Schulenburg and Boeckeler cut about 10, 000, 000 board feet of
lumber. Of the four mills in Stillwater, they were second only to Hersey,
Staples & Co. sawmill.16 But this mill had greater potential: within a year
of its beginning, the newspaper reported that the Schulenburg and
Boeckeler mill "...until quite recently, has done but little over half what it
can now do; yet it has averaged, per month, 800,000 feet lumber; 100,000
shingles; 300,000 lath; --total value, $26, 000. "17
During this early period, there was little demand for lumber in the
undeveloped Minnesota Territory; most of the lumber went down the
Mississippi River.
13 Minnesota Pioneer, April 13, 1854
14 A History of the Greeley Residential Area, Stillwater, Minnesota by Donald Empson,
Empson Archives, 1997. Page 19.
15 The Daily Minnesotian, September 13, 1854
16 St. Croix Union, February 13, 1855.
17 St. Croix Union, September 5, 1856.
19
Charlottenburg, 1853--1880
"The firm of Schulenburg and Boeckeler in 1848
purchased their first raft of pine logs, which were brought from
the Wisconsin pineries, and hence became the second firm in the
city [of St. Louis} to commence the manufacture of pine lumber in
the city...In 1853 Schulenburg and Boeckeler conceived the idea
of establishing mills of their own in the pineries of Minnesota,
from which they might supply their yards direct...The site
selected was at the town of Stillwater, on the St. Croix River, and
in 1854 the mills were completed and put in motion. These
mills were propelled by steam, generated by five large boilers,
and the machinery driven by two good-sized engines. The saws
were run in `gangs," there being three gangs in one of which
there were twenty-eight saws, in another one, twenty-two, and in
the other one, eighteen...From the starting of the mills in 1854 to
1857 the most of their manufactures were sold to different points
on the river, only a part being brought to St. Louis, and it was
not until the summer of that year that they began `piling" in
their yards." 18
Picture courtesy of the St. Croix Collection, Stillwater Public Library
A photograph of the first Schulenburg & Boeckeler Saw Mill
18 History of St. Louis City and County, including Biographical Sketches of Representative
Men, by J. Thomas Scharf. Philadelphia, Louis H. Everts & Co. 1883. Vol. 2, page 1323.
20
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
All of this activity may have generated money for the Schulenburg
and Boeckeler Lumber Company, but it was not conducive to the peace and
quiet of those living in Charlottenburg. As early as December of 1855, soon
after the first Mill was constructed, a visitor to the area, seeking a
homestead, complained that "...there were insuperable objections to settling
there. There was Schulenburg's big mill, giving employment to fifty or sixty
hand, day and night —whacking and thwacking, thrashing and clashing,
drawing and sawing incessantly. Besides there were too many buildings
going up. "19
But the local newspaper editor, ever sanguine, saw it a little
differently: "The career of the city of Stillwater is still onward and upward.
A few days ago in company with Dr. Carli, we visited Carli & Schulenburg's
Addition. Several new houses are going up there; and lots are being disposed
of briskly. The pump in the well —which is 125 feet deep and the water fifty!-
-is now in operation and works well."2°
The First Census
In 1857, with the taking of the first Census preliminary to Minnesota
becoming a state, we have our earliest glimpse of the residents of
Charlottenburg. There were 46 separate dwellings in the community. Of
these, 43 appear to be single-family residences. There was Schulenburg's
boarding house with 18 residents, and two families appear to have taken in
boarders. Most of these adults were in their mid -twenties, and judging
from the age of their children, and where the children were born, most of the
adult population had emigrated from Germany within the previous three
years —possibly recruited to work in this Schulenburg and Boeckeler mill.
There were 120 adults over the age of 18 in the community; of these
120 adults, 114 had been born in Germany. There were 76 men over the age
of 18; of these at least 45 (listed as millman, lumberman, or millwright)
worked in the Mill itself. There were 4 men working at two breweries
(Augustus Benz 21 and Jacob Knips); 2 shoemakers; 2 stone masons; 5
carpenters; 2 laborers; 1 teamster; 2 cooks; 1 conveyancer; 1 clerk; and 1
19 St. Croix Union, December 22, 1855.
20 St. Croix Union, August 1, 1856.
21 Benz drowned in the St. Croix as a result of "culpable carelessness" in 1859. Stillwater
Democrat, May 14, 1859; his body found in the river: Stillwater Democrat, May 28, 1859.
21
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
apprentice. While there is no way of knowing for sure, it seems quite likely
that some of these other occupations were employed, at least part of the
time, by the Mill.
There were 76 children living in the village --many of them under the
age of 10—making the total population of Charlottenburg about 200
people.22 The total population of Stillwater at this time was 2,800 people, so
Charlottenburg would have represented less than 10 percent of Stillwater's
population.
Listed among the residents of Charlottenburg were the Mill "bosses."
Frederick Schulenburg, age 49, lived here with his wife, Helena, and their
six children. Schulenburg also maintained a residence in St. Louis,
Missouri.
Louis Hospes, age 47, and his wife, Eliza, lived here with their eight
children. Hospes came from Missouri to manage the Mill for Schulenburg
and Boeckeler, but he soon became a part owner of the firm.
Henry Christopher Drawer, age 30, the foreman and millwright for
the Mill, lived here with his wife, Anna.
A Great Depression
By 1858, Charlottenburg had its own schoolhouse. There was a high
school in Stillwater, a south school on Schoolhouse Hill (near where the
Historic Courthouse now stands), a middle school in the downtown area, and
a north school in Schulenburg's Addition. The teacher for the latter school
was, in 1858, Miss J. A. Humphrey. Today the site of the old school is a
playground.23
In 1858, a great depression gripped the United States, including
Minnesota. Banks were closed; the price of land plummeted and any ready
cash flowed from the state to pay eastern debts. The price of lumber; the
piling upon which the structure of Charlottenburg rested, fell, but the Mill
kept cutting. The following year, 1859, the price fell again, and by 1860,
lumber reached a dismally low price. The following year, the Civil War
22 United States. Census of Minnesota Territory. Washington County. Stillwater. Pages 1-5.
23 History of the St. Croix Valley, edited by Augustus B. Easton. Chicago, H.C. Cooper Jr. &
Co., 1909. Page 87.
22
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
brought higher prices, and by 1866, prices reached the peak of postwar
inflation, a height that was not to be reached again until 1902.24
In 1860, there was another United States census. In Charlottenburg,
there were approximately 50 houses. Reflecting the hard times at the Mill,
and the Depression throughout the United States, 14 of these dwellings
were vacant. There were approximately 44 families living there; it does not
appear there were any boarding houses. Perhaps there was a policy that the
m.eager number of jobs available at the Mill should go to the married men
with families.
There were 89 adults and 84 children in the community. Of the 89
adults, 76 (85 percent) came from parts of what we consider Germany; of the
remainder, five were from Switzerland, three from Holland, and five had
been born in the U.S.
Forty one of the working men were listed as "laborers," a general term
that would have been used to describe the Mill workers. There was, in
addition, one saloon keeper, William Zass; a millwright, Henry C. Draver;
one carpenter, one tailor, two farmers, and two peddlers living next door to
each other. Gerhard Knips also had a Brewery on Block 32.25
Using the first tax assessor's records available, those from 1861, it is
possible to glimpse where the residents listed in the 1860 census lived in
Charlottenburg. (Figure 3).26
The vast majority of these 1860 houses were valued by the Assessor
as being under $50. This would indicate these were very small houses, one
story, with a center wall dividing the home into two smaller rooms. The
chimney, if there were one, would be in this center wall, and a stove vented
into the chimney. One room would be used for cooking and eating; the other
for living and sleeping. The walls were probably rough sheathing with clay
chinked into the cracks I would guess this was the classic Dutchtown
house of which there are a few remnants today: a broadside house with the
gables at each end. The front of the house would be symmetrical, with a
door in the middle, and a window on each side.
In other parts of Stillwater at this time, even in the working man's
neighborhoods, the houses tended to be valued at $100 to $150, but in
Dutchtown, there were only eight houses valued over $100 scattered around
the community.
24 History of the White Pine Industry in Minnesota by Agnes M. Larson. U. of Minnesota
Press, 1949. Page 103-104.
25 U. S. Census for 1860. Washington County. Stillwater. Pages 75-79.
26 This information is compiled from the Washington County Tax Assessor's records for 1861-
1865. SAM 78, Roll 2; SAM 78, Roll 3; SAM 78, Roll 4; SAM 78, Roll 5. Copies can be found
at the Minnesota Historical Society, and the Stillwater Public Library.
23
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
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24
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
The Dutchtown House
This is a drawing of the typical Dutchtown house, many of which must
have been constructed by the Mill to house its workers. Sitting broadside to
the road, these houses had two rooms downstairs, divided by a center wall
which contained the chimney and stove. One room would have been used for
cooking and eating; the other for living and sleeping. Upstairs there was a loft
used for sleeping and, when necessary, as a guest room. The earliest houses
probably had walls with rough sheathing and clay chinked into the cracks. In
every case, the front of the house is exactly symmetrical, with the door in the
center, and a window an equal distance on both sides of the door.
Today many of these houses are gone, but there are still enough left to
discern the basic pattern, although many of the remaining houses have been
greatly altered. The best extant example of this original house is at 2007
Schulenburg Alley to which a back addition has been added. As the purest
example of this unique Dutchtown house, I would recommend the home be
added to the National Register of Historic Places. Other houses in Dutchtown
that fit this original pattern —although most of them have been altered
considerably —are at 2011 Schulenburg Alley, 2021 Schulenburg Alley, 2016
N. Broadway, 1924 N. First, 101 E. Hazel, 1901 N. Second, 1905 N. Second,
2012 N. Second, 2009 N. Third, 307 Willow, and 309 Willow. A few others like
301 E. Willow, probably began with this pattern, but they have been too
altered to determine their original configuration.
The illustration is of the Joseph Gesse house that used to be at 1911 North Second
Street; this is a copy of a watercolor painting by Jo Lutz Rollins reproduced in the
book, Jo published by Croixside Press in 1976.
25
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
The Civil War Period
By 1865, when the price of lumber was very high, the Schulenburg
and Boeckeler mill was cutting 57,248 board feet of lumber in an average
day, and its largest cut was 71,360 feet in a day. It beat any mill in the rival
town of St. Anthony. Schulenburg and Boeckeler were setting the pace in
the state with their output; in 1866 the firm cut 15, 000, 000 feet in 197
working days. A Stillwater newspaper ventured, "Can any mill in this state
beat this? If so, we would like to hear from its proprietors.''27
Not only was business brisk for Schulenburg and Boeckeler, but the
wealth was pouring in to the owners of the mill. In 1866, Frederick
Schulenburg listed an income of $40,144, the single largest income in all of
Washington, Chisago, Pine and Kanabec Counties. Managing Director of the
Mill, Louis Hospes, listed the third largest income at $10,122. By
comparison, Issac Staples, one of Stillwater's leading lumbermen, declared
an income of $8,946, and Socrates Nelson, a leading Stillwater businessman
and land developer, listed an income of $615.28 The previous year,
Schulenburg paid a tax of $2,259.35, five per cent of his total earnings of
$45,180, again the highest in the four -county area.29
Nor was the wealth totally confinedto the Mill owners. In the
1865 tax records, Henry Biele, who operated the Mill Boarding House,
reported personal property worth $150. Henry C. Draver, foreman and
millwright for the mill indicated $575 in personal property, and fellow mill
worker, John Glade reported $470 in personal property. Gerhard Knips, the
Brewery owner, possessed $850 worth of personal property. 3°
The Population in 1870
The late 1860's were good years for the Mill and, it seems, good years
for the residents of Charlottenburg. The 1870 Census paints a brighter
picture of the German community. There were now approximately 84
dwellings --and the Mill Boarding House --in Charlottenburg, almost double
27 Stillwater Messenger, December 12, 1866.
28 Stillwater Messenger, June 26, 1867.
29 History of the St. Croix Valley, edited by Augustus B. Easton. Chicago, H.C. Cooper Jr. &
Co., 1909. Page 100
30 Washington County Tax Assessor's Records; Microfilm Roll SAM 78, Roll6
26
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
that of a decade ago. There were 200 children, and 228 adults living in the
community. One -hundred sixty-five of the adults (72 percent) were born in
Germany. Extrapolating from the age and place of birth of their children, it
appears most of these German workers had been in the United States less
than 10 years.
Other nationalities represented in Charlottenburg were the Swiss
(15), Canadian (16), Irish (6), English (2), Swedes (5), born in the United
States (7) plus 1 Belgian and 1 Dane. There are, in addition, seven entries
in the census which are not readable.
Of the 154 working men of Charlottenburg listed in the 1870 Census,
114 are listed specifically as "works in saw mill." In addition to them, there
were 2 engineers, 3 store clerks, 5 who "worked on logs," 2 lumbermen, and
Henry C. Draver and Louis Hospes, making a total of at least 128 men,
about 83 percent of the adult population, directly employed by the
Schulenburg and Boeckeler Mill. There were also listed 9 laborers who may
or may not have worked for the Mill. Other occupations included Bar
Tender (3), Cooper (2), Teamster (2), Brewer (1), Soda pop manufacturer (1),
Carpenter (1), Wheelwright (1), Drayman (1). There was also 1 School
Teacher, John Rentzdorf, and 1 Explorer, Michael Casey.
It is also interesting to note the age of the workers. There was one
13-year-old boy, as well as several 16 year olds working in the Mill. At the
other end of the spectrum, there was one man 80 years old and several in
their 60's and 70's who were employed in the Mill.
By 1870, there were a few new houses in Charlottenburg, and
Schulenburg and Boeckeler had increased the number of houses they owned.
(See Figure 4, page 28). It is very noteworthy to compare this Map compiled
from the Tax Assessor's records with the Birds Eye View Map done in 1869
(See Figure 5, page 29). It appears there are more houses on the Birds Eye
View than might be accounted for in the Assessor's records, but the Birds
Eye View Map, which is very detailed and accurate, includes the
outbuildings as well as the houses, and sometimes the barns appear to be
larger than the houses.
Most of the houses, over 50 percent, were valued at $100, which
would indicate a small, but adequate house for a family of the time. It is
possible to equate the value with the size on the Birds Eye View (See Figure
5, page 29). For example, the five houses on N. First St. between E. Willow
and E. Hazel are valued at $100; the large T-shaped house on N. Broadway
midway between E. Willow St. and E. Hazel St. is valued at $250.
Compared to the rest of Stillwater, this was still an area of small houses,
but the contrast in housing size between Charlottenburg and the rest of
Stillwater was not as great as it had been a decade earlier.
27
Cbarlottenburg, 1853-1880
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Figure 5
Map courtesy of Empson Archives
This is the residential area of Dutchtown as pictured in an inset in
the 1870 Bird's Eye View Map of Stillwater drawn by Albert Ruger. In
discussing the published map, the Stillwater Republican on November 9,
1869, said the following: "It shows every street...and the buildings are
clearly defined, and properly located that every citizen can point out his own
residence be it ever so small." We have added the street names that are
lacking in the original.
From this map, you can see there are many small houses of the type
we have termed "the Dutchtown house." This view also gives an indication
of the many outbuildings that were common in nineteenth century
neighborhoods. Schulenburg's Alley can be seen in the lower right-hand
corner. It is lined with houses on both sides even at this early date. The
site of the schoolhouse at the top of the map is now a playground. There is
what appears to be a bridge at the north end of N. First Street, perhaps
crossing Brown's Creek.
29
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
Dutchtown's Greatest Moment
Because of the hills surrounding Stillwater, there were only two routes
a railroad could use to enter Stillwater. One was through a ravine well to
the south of Stillwater; the second route —the chosen route —was into
Stillwater along the gradual slope of Brown's Creek. On September loth,
1870, work was begun to run a spur from White Bear (which was on the St.
Paul and Duluth route) into Stillwater. With 1,000 men at work on this
first railroad into Stillwater, the construction was completed to Dutchtown
by December 25th. Because of the severe winter weather and frozen ground,
construction halted in Dutchtown, and a depot was built there.
So, for six months, all of Stillwater, and probably most of the surround-
ing area came to Dutchtown to board —or at least gape —at the new railroad
which, as one writer said: `"1'he rattle of a train of cars drives the echoes out
of all the sleepy hollows and wakes up all the vim and enterprise that
community possesses." In June of the following year, the depot was picked up
and moved into downtown Stillwater. Today these early train tracks are
used by the Minnesota Zephyr excursion and dinner train.31
The Germans
While Charlottenburg was almost entirely German, by no means did
all the Germans residing in Stillwater live in Charlottenburg. There were a
number of prosperous German merchants and other businessmen living in
other parts of the city. Yet there does appear to have been a certain ethnic
affinity among the populations of different nationalities, and at least in the
one following case, the result was serious for one worker at the Schulenburg
and Boeckeler Mill.
31 Stillwater Messenger, January 6, 1871; Stillwater Gazette, June 13, 1871; Stillwater
Messenger, December 16, 1870.
30
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
Stabbing Affray
"A murderous affray took place last Saturday night at
the house of Frank Berkhardt, who lives on the St. Paul road [the
ravine between Olive and Myrtle Street west of Third Street] a short
distance above the Myrtle Street Church. There was a German dance
at the place, and a few Swedes were present. An altercation occurred
during the evening, and one of the Germans was considerably bruised
about the head. At the close of the dance the Swedes started for home
one young fellow, a quiet inoffensive Swede, named John Smith,
lingered in the rear, when he was attacked by a number of intoxicated
and crazy Germans, who inflicted several severe and probably
dangerous wounds with a long bladed knife. Two or three cuts about
the shoulders are not considered serious, but one terrible gash in the
right side gives cause of alarm to his friends and the physicians.
His friends in advance, hearing the cries for help, hastened
back, and found Smith lying on the ground bleeding profusely from
numerous wounds. He was picked up and taken to the boarding house
of Chas. Holcombe, where he still lies in a critical condition.
On Sunday, several persons were arrested, who, on being taken
before the wounded man, were not identified as participants in the
outrage. One German named Kusmann, an employee at Schulenburg`s
mill, was spotted as being the identical person who did the stabbing.
On being brought before Justice Van Vleck on Monday, he waived an
examination, and was held to trial at the next term of the District
Court, giving bonds for his appearance in the sum of $1500.
The proprietor of the house at which the dance was held was
arrested on Monday, for selling liquor without a license, and paid a
fine of $17"32
The Road Out Of Town
In 1872, Dutchtown was first officially connected with the rest of
Stillwater. As platted, N. Lake Street in Carli & Schulenburg's Addition
only ran south to the north end of Battle Hollow. Main Street extended
north from downtown Stillwater to the Territorial Prison, at the south end
of Battle Hollow. Bridging the gap through Battle Hollow to connect the two
streets was initiated at a Stillwater City Council Meeting in March of 1872.
(Apparently this was a long running battle because the Washington County
32 Stillwater Gazette, October 31, 1871.
31
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
Historical Society has a letter dated 1859, in which the Warden of the Prison
declares that the State of Minnesota property encompassing the Territorial
Prison extends all the way to the river, and that no permission has been
given by the State to extend a public road in front of the Territorial Prison.)
Disaster!
The newly incorporated newspaper, The Stillwater Lumberman,
contained a description of the Schulenburg and Boeckeler Mill in 1875.
`During the sawing season, which covers a period of seven months, the mill
runs night and day —the only suspension being between Saturday night and
Sunday evening. The average product for the seven months is 50,000,000 feet
of lumber, 9,000,000 lath and 6,000,000 shingles. No less than 150 men are
employed."33
In 1877, disaster struck the Mill and Charlottenburg. The disaster
was reported in both Stillwater newspapers, but perhaps the most
significant account in terms of Dutchtown was published in the St. Paul
Pioneer Press.
STILLWATER
Flames
Schulenberg's Mill Reduced to Ashes-
150 Operatives Thrown Out of Employment
Big Set -Back to City Prosperity
For a number of years, the mill owned and operated by
Schulenberg, Boeckeler & Co. has furnished employment for
hundreds of men, who (with their families) finally became
identified with the mill as their legitimate workshop.
Homesteads were erected adjacent to the mill site, and year after
year the operatives labored to secure a livelihood, and pay for
their little homes. Wages for laboring men have been at all times
low enough, but they reached still a lower notch this year, when
33 Stillwater Lumberman, April 23, 1875.
32
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
mills did not even pay living prices to their hands, hence the
calamity about to be told falls heavier on the operatives than the
mill owners.
The firm of Schulenberg, Boeckeler & Co. is noted as being
the best for taking care of their employees, and is most liberal in
paying living prices to the men in their employ.
On Wednesday the men went to work as usual at 6 a.m.,
and in about fifteen minutes after, a dense smoke pervaded the
mill emanating from the basement, and in less time than it takes
to tell it, flames shot over and around the entire structure, which
was of very dry wood. The city steamer [steam pumper fire
engine] was promptly on hand, but could do no good, while the
mill engine could not be reached on account of the heat.
The loss is estimated at $80,000, with a probable
insurance of $15,000. Mr. Schulenberg is in Europe, and Mr.
Boeckeler in St. Louis telegraphed that he will be here to-
morrow. A meeting of the company will decide about rebuilding
the mill.
The cause of the fire is unknown, but it is supposed to
have occurred from the friction of a belt over a pulley as the same
thing happened once before. No lumber was lost as men slid all
the planed stuff into the lake. The machinery is almost
worthless.34
The residents of Dutchtown, or at least one resident, was not pleased
with the Pioneer Press assessment of their prospects. In a strongly worded
note to the local newspaper, The Stillwater Lumberman, the writer
expressed his opinion of the Pioneer Press reporter.
"To the Editor of the Lumberman,
The residents of Schulenburg's Addition are considerably
incensed over the ill-considered intimation of the Pioneer Press
reporter that they are in the least in danger of suffering or
starvation in consequence of the burning of Schulenburg,
Boeckeler & Co's mill, where they have been mostly employed.
They are among the most frugal and industrious of our citizens,
and when they are on the point of starvation, the Pioneer Press
34 St. Paul Pioneer Press, May 17, 1877.
33
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
reporter will have been long since carried to his grave, an
emaciated victim of an inability to obtain his usual sustenance.
A German'35
However, there was concern over the rebuilding of the Mill. The
Stillwater Lumberman in this same issue voiced the anxieties of the
townspeople. "It is to be hoped the mill will be immediately rebuilt, not only
as affecting the prosperity of the city, but on account of those who have
bought property in Schulenburg addition, with the hope of having
employment for some years in the mill, and no doubt this feature of the case
will enter largely into the determination of the question. If Messrs.
Schulenburg, Boeckeler & Co. think they are under even a moral obligation
to rebuild they will undoubtedly do so, as there are few firms in the country
composed of more honorable and square -toed men, and few, also, who have
so great a personal interest in the welfare of their employees as these
gentlemen have. It is a firm the dissolution of which would be to this city a
calamity in more than a mere commercial sense... "36
The Stillwater Messenger was also sympathetic to the workers: "...but
perhaps the saddest feature connected with the catastrophe is the fact that
about one hundred men are thrown out of employment —the most of whom
have families; and no doubt, many are in debt and expected to `get even" with
the proceeds of the summer's work in the mill.
The proprietors will not in any manner be embarrassed, financially,
by their loss, as they are probably abundantly able to build a dozen such
mills, and leave a large reserve fund untouched."37
On June 5th, less than a month after the fire, the Stillwater
Lumberman announced that the Mill would, in fact, be rebuilt at about the
same size as the old Mill.
Another Depression
This concern for the workers was not misplaced. In Vienna, Austria
in June of 1873, a financial crisis occurred which spread to New York City
35 Stillwater Lumberman, May 18, 1877.
36 Stillwater Lumberman, May 18, 1877.
37 Stillwater. Messenger, May 18, 1877.
34
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
by September of that same year, precipitating what is known as The Panic
of 1873. This severe worldwide depression lasted five years, and the prices
for agricultural and manufactured products fell sharply, with a
commensurate decline in wages. Lumber prices fell more sharply than other
goods, for lumber, like raw materials in general, is a sensitive barometer
that responds rapidly to depression or prosperity. 38
Moreover, during the 1870's, before the use of railroads in
transporting both uncut and sawed lumber, the mills only operated when
the river was unfrozen. This meant that while some of the mill hands might
become lumberjacks and work in the pineries cutting timber during the
winter, other men would be unemployed while the Mill was closed for the
winter season.
Notwithstanding this Depression, a book published in 1877 in St.
Louis, lauded the Schulenburg and Boeckeler firm for its success in the
lumber trade.
"This great firm have for marry years stood at the head of
the lumber trade on St. Louis. They are at the same time the
oldest and the greatest firm in the trade, and, indeed, have no
equal in the world. They commenced business when this city [St.
Louis] contained little more than promises of future greatness
and when the lumber traffic of the West gave little indication of
its present proportions.
The operations of this firm, cover the whole range of
lumber manufacture, from the felling of the forest trees to the
delivery of the finished goods in various forms. They are the
only firm in the city [St. Louis] who own their own pine lands,
saw -mill, means of transportation and planing -mills. Their
large pine lands include some of the finest tracts of timber in the
Northwest. Their large gang saw -mills are erected on these
lands, and here the supplies are prepared for their stock in St.
Louis. The rafts are brought down by tow -boats belonging to the
firm and which are used exclusively by their business, although
their requirements frequently oblige them to employ other
steamers. They were the first operators to introduce the use of
tow -boats in bringing down rafts. Prior to that time —some five
or six years ago —they were brought down by hand. In addition
to the product of their own lands they make immense purchases
38 History of the White Pine Industry in Minnesota by Agnes M. Larson, University of
Minnesota Press, 1949. Page 387.
35
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
of yellow pine and other materials. Schulenburg and Boeckeler
are known in every part of the country tributary to St. Louis...".39
The Bosses:
Frederick Schulenburg
There were three men intimately engaged in the management and
daily operation of the Schulenburg and Boeckeler Mill during its first
quarter -century. They were Frederick Schulenburg, Louis Hospes, and
Christopher Drawer.
Schulenburg, as we have seen, became a partner with Adolphus
Boeckeler in 1844 in St. Louis to form the Schulenburg and Boeckeler
Lumber Company. It was Schulenburg who came to Stillwater in 1853, and
purchased the land for the Mill platting it into Carli & Schulenburg's
Addition. While Schulenburg continued to be listed as a resident of St. Louis
in their City Directories, he also spent a great deal of time living in
Charlottenburg. The early census lists him and his entire family living here
during the summers when the census taker made his rounds. His
substantial house, which was still standing, but in dilapidated condition in
1894, can be seen on Figure 6 as the only house on the east side of Lake
Street, just slightly south and west of the mill. It is a two-story house with a
one-story addition on the side.
Around 1880, in a reorganization, Schulenburg apparently
surrendered or sold his interest in the lumber company, and after sojourning
in Germany, he moved to San Diego, California, where he "owned a large
property." On May 30th, 1894, having outlived his wife, Helene, and one son,
Frederick, he died in San Diego at the age of 86. 40 His probate court record
in St. Louis (No. 20601) lists an estate worth $68,000, which included 150
shares in the St. Louis Refrigerator and Wooden Gutter Company of which
his son, Otto G. Schulenburg, was the president. There was no mention in
the probate record an any assets in Stillwater, or in the Schulenburg and
Boeckeler Lumber Company.
His one daughter, Eliza, married a Richard Schulenburg who was the
vice-president and general business manager of the Eau Claire Lumber
Company in St. Louis. In 1894, she was living in Berlin, Germany. His
other three sons, Albert R., Gustavus, and Edward, remained in San Diego.
39 St. Louis Business and Industry, 1877, reprinted in The Missouri Historical Society
Bulletin, January, 1960. Page 169.
`° Obituary notices in The Mississippi Valley Lumberman, Vo1.24, #23 (June 8, 1894) and the
Stillwater Weekly Gazette, June 6, 1894.
36
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
Map courtesy of Empson Archives
Figure 6
This is the industrial area of Dutchtown as pictured in an inset in the 1870
Bird's Eye View Map of Stillwater drawn by Albert Ruger. In discussing the
published map, the Stillwater Republican on November 9, 1869, said the
following: `2t shows every street...and the buildings are clearly defined, and
properly located that every citizen can point out his own residence be it ever so
small."
On this map, you can see the Mill at the foot of E. Sycamore Street as
it appeared shortly after the Civil War. Number 1 on the map is the house of
Frederick Schulenburg. The house remained until close to the turn of the
century. To the west of the Mill is North Lake Street as it was platted in
Carli & Schulenburg's Addition; today's North Main Street runs slightly to
the west.
On the west side of N. Lake Street were the buildings associated with
the Mill. Number 2 is the Schulenburg & Boeckeler Company store. The
other buildings consisted of an office, warehouse sheds, and the first
residence of Louis Hospes. Number 3 on this map is the Knips Brewery
building just to the south of E. Poplar Street.
All of these buildings are gone today, and even the most observant
historian would be hard pressed to find any trace of them.
37
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
The Bosses:
Louis Hospes
Louis Hospes came to Stillwater in 1853 as an employee of
Schulenburg & Boeckeler to act as the superintendent of construction, and
thereafter, general manager of the Mill. He was born in Hesse Kassel,
Germany, February 8, 1809, a well-educated man, who attended the noted
university at Gottingen to study theoreticalagriculture and veterinary
science, graduating in 1830. Two years later, he came to America, eventually
settling in St. Charles County, Missouri, about 30 miles from St. Louis,
where he farmed for eight years. He then moved to Green County where he
was in the distilling business, and subsequently moved to St. Louis in 1848
where he went to work for the Schulenburg and Boeckeler Lumber Company.
Three years after coming to Stillwater, Hospes was made a partner in the
lumber company, and he remained the "Stillwater connection" until he
retired in 1878.
Hospes and his family lived in Stillwater, and he was the only partner
in the Schulenburg and Boeckeler Lumber Company who took an active role
in the affairs of this city. He was a City Councilman in 1856, and along with
Dr. Christopher Carli, he was elected a Washington County Commissioner in
1858. He was a founder of the First National Bank in 1865, and became its
president 10 years later; he was also one of the incorporators of the St. Croix
Valley Savings Bank.41
In Dutchtown, Hospes lived in a substantial $900 house on Lot 2,
Block 32. In 1873, Hospes had a large house built on the east side of N. First
Street in the first block north of E. Sycamore, on what were then Lots 4 and
5, of Block 24, Carli & Schulenburg's Addition. (Today that approximate site
is occupied by a 1960's house with the address 1410 Riverview Drive.) The
local newspaper described the new Hospes house in some detail:
Mr. Hospes' New Residence
An Elegant Building
The fine residence of Mr. Louis Hospes, located on the
bluff in the northern part of the city, is rapidly approaching
completion.
It is built of wood, the main part being in size, 36 by 44
feet, and two stories in height divided into four rooms, parlor,
sitting room, dining room, and library, with a broad hall leading
through the center of the building.
41 History of the St. Croix Valley, edited by Augustus B. Easton. Chicago, H.C. Cooper Jr. &
Co., 1909. Pages 88, 122, 213, 269, 271.
38
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
The L part is 24 by 36 feet, one and a half stories high —
divided into five rooms: Kitchen, pantry, sink -room, bath -room
and store -room.
In the rear are wood -house, and other out houses, 14 by 18
feet, and one story in height.
At a convenient distance is a large barn, 40 by 60 feet, and
near the house is a well about 100 feet deep and six inches in
diameter, drilled through the solid rock, which now contains
nine feet of water.
The building fronts to the east —which is always a
desirable feature —and the outlook from the observatory is
magnificent —commanding a fine view of the city, the lake and
river as well as the city of Hudson.
Our well-known and popular builder, Mr. Wm. May, is
the contractor, which is a sufficient guarantee that the execution
of the work will be every way satisfactory.
The entire cost of the structure, outhouses, &c with the
necessary improvements and adorning of the grounds will not
fall short of $20,000.42
The rear of the Hospes Mansion.
42 The Stillwater Gazette, July 9, 1872.
Photo courtesy of the Stillwater Public Library
39
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
Photo courtesy of the St. Croix Collection, Stillwater Public Library
The Hospes Mansion at E. Sycamore Street and N. First Street
William May, who was building the home, was one of the contractors
who had built Stillwater's Historic Courthouse three years earlier. Hospes'
grand house overlooking the Mill below was certainly one of the largest
houses in Stillwater at the time, however, in the eyes of the tax assessor, it
did not measure up to Stiliwater's grandest house of the day, the mansion of
Issac Staples in what is now Pioneer Park. In 1882, the whole of Block 24
(Carli & Schulenburg's Addition) which Hospes owned, was valued at $1,200;
the Hospes house carried a value of S6,000. By comparison, all of Block 8
(Original City plat) which Staples owned, was valued at $7,000, while Staples
house was assigned a value of $13, 400.
But like the Staples mansion and the Schulenburg house, the Hospes
house did not survive long past the turn of the century. One of the last
references to the home is to be found in The Stillwater Messenger of April 26,
1902: "Jim. Teare has taken possession of the fine residence of the late Louis
Hospes at 1414 North First Street [not the correct address] and will make it
his home this summer."
40
Cbarlottenburg, 1853-1880
Apparently Louis was a man of no official religion, for his obituary
found it necessary to note: "Of his religious beliefs, which were his own, and
perhaps not strictly orthodox, there is nothing to say. All those who knew him
best and were acquainted with his upright and blameless life are content to
leave the future destiny of him they so highly esteemed in the hands of the
Great Father of all. "`i3
Louis Hospes had 10 children, of which only five survived. At the time
of his death, they were Mrs. Eliza Schlenk of St. Paul, Mrs. Lena Mann of
Milwaukee, and Adolphus, Ernest, and Otto, all of Stillwater.
Picture from History of the St. Croix Valley, Chicago, 1909
Louis Hospes
43 Stillwater Daily Gazette, April 11, 1888.
41
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
Adolphus held a number of elected and appointed positions in his
lifetime, including City Alderman, City Treasurer for many years, and
Surveyor General from 1885-1889; he was also a Director of the
Lumberman's National Bank. He married Aurora Staples, the daughter of
Isaac Staples, and thereby united in marriage two of the great lumber
dynasties of the Upper Mississippi Valley. It was this couple who, in the
1890's, built the large house that remains at 303 N. Fourth Street, just north
of the Public Library
Ernest Hospes was active in a number of business and civic
organizations. He was a partner in several retail stores, one of the
incorporators of Stillwater's short-lived electric trolley system, a treasurer of
Stillwater's largest business for a time, Seymour, Sabin and Co. He was one
of the principals in the Stillwater Gas Light Company, and a one-time State
Senator. Perhaps most notably however, Ernest took over his father's
position as a partner in the Schulenburg & Boeckeler Lumber Company.
The Bosses:
Christopher Draver
The third principal in the Schulenburg and Boeckeler Lumber
Company in this period was Henry Christopher Draver, or Drewer as he was
sometimes called. Henry was born in the village of Brockhagen, near
Bielefeld, Germany, in 1826. He emigrated to the United States in 1849,
settling first in Iowa, then coming to Stillwater in 1853 to be the foreman of
the Schulenburg and Boeckeler Mill. His $375 house in Dutchtown was on
Lot 3 of Block 49. It can be seen on the northwest corner of N. Broadway and
E. Willow Streets. (Figure 5, page 29)
He left the employ of the Mill around 1880, having invested his
generous salary in land. In the summer of 1883, on land purchased from
Jacob Deragisch, a co-worker at the Mill, Draver built a large $4,500 house
on the southeast corner of N. William and W. St. Croix Streets; a house that
remains today as 1219 N. William Street. Like his boss, Louis Hospes,
Draver also served a term as a City Alderman.
On April 19, 1887, H. C. Draver died at his home at 3:15 in the
morning. His widow, Anna, remained in the house with her children: Robert
Emil Draver who became a foreman at the Florence Mill Company; Henry
and Ernest who worked as clerks for the Minnesota Thresher Manufacturing
Company, and Caroline, his daughter, who worked for a time as a teacher in
the Schulenburg School.
42
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
However, in one of those coincidences that must often occur in smaller
cities, Caroline, the daughter of Henry C. Draver, married a man named
George E. Wilson in 1896. Wilson was a man of considerable business
acumen, and over the years he worked his way up to becoming the General
Manager of the Northwest Thresher Company in Stillwater, one of
Minnesota's largest manufacturing industries which employed over 700 men
when in full operation. About 1920, George Wilson and Caroline Draver
moved their family into the Staples-Hospes house at 303 N. Fourth Street,
and thus the daughter of the foreman came to occupy the house built by the
son of the boss. 44
The Families of Charlottenburg
There were a number of families who resided in Charlottenburg for
more than a decade during this period. Most of them had moved on by the
1880's and they will not be remembered by any of the current residents. But
for the sake of the historical record, we mention some of the names and
places of these first residents.
In the 1850's and 60's, Bernard and Maria Hazelhorst lived in their
$100 house on the N% Lot 1, Block 48 on what is today a vacant lot just south
of 1924 N. First Street. In the 1850's, 60's and 70's, Fritz or Frederick
Harmon and his wife, Teresa lived in a $120 home on N1/2 Lot 2, Block 48 on
what is now a vacant lot on the west side of N. First Street between E.
Willow and E. Hazel Streets. Henry Harnish, his wife, Hannah, and their
five children lived in a small house where the home at 224 E. Willow now
sits. (See Figure 2, page 17, and Figure 7, page 44)
William Zass and his wife, Sophie, lived for a time in a house on the
Wl/2 of Lot 3, Block 41. In the 1870's, Jacob Zass and his wife, Bertha took up
residence at 125 E. Willow; in 1894, he was still living there. John Glade was
here by 1863; in 1894, he was living at 1722 N. Broadway.
In 1857, the 14-year-old Jacob Deragi.sh and his sister, Mary, both
from Switzerland were residents of Charlottenburg; three years later, John
Deragish, his wife, Maria, and their six children had joined Jacob in
Charlottenburg. A decade later, John's family had been joined by Julius
Deragish, his wife, Catherine, and their six children —also from Switzerland.
In the 1880's, the family moved from Dutchtown, although some members
continued to work at the Schulenburg and Boeckeler Mill. In 1865, J.A.
Deragish, who worked in the mill, calculated $445 in personal property —a
44 History of the Loome House, 1219 N. William Street, an unpublished manuscript by
Donald Empson.
43
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
Lot 4
Lot5
Lot 6
Lot 3
Lot 2
Lot 1
Figure 7
Typical numbering pattern of Lots in a
Carli & Schulenburg plat Block, i.e.
Lot 1 would always be in the NE corner of the Block
Lot 4 would always be in the SW corner of the Block
goodly sum for the times. John Deragish was a City Alderman in 1858, and
Jacob A. Deragish became an City Alderman in 1873 and again in 1880.
Over the years, the family engaged in a number of business and civic
endeavors.
William Steinkamp, his wife, Wilhelmina, and a daughter, Clara, are
listed in the 1870 Census as residents; 24 years later, he is living at 2023
Schulenburg Alley. August Iserman came here as early as 1867; he and his
family settled in a 304 E. Hazel where they lived for more than a generation.
In fact, the name, pronounced "Ease-er-mon" gave rise to the nickname of the
Hazel Street hill, as "Easy Hill."
Another family that stayed in Dutchtown over three decades was John
and Sophia Binger, or Binker. They are listed in the 1860 Census, and
Sophia, a widow, is listed as residing at 1914 N. First Street in 1894. One of
the families that lived longest in Charlottenburg was that of Frances (Frank)
Klein, his wife, Teresa, and their three children. They must have come at
the time the Mill opened in 1853. In the 1870's and `80's, they lived at 2016
44
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
N. Broadway, and in 1927, 75 years later, the family was still living in
Dutchtown at 1710 N. Main Street. 45
Photograph Courtesy of the St. Croix Collection, Stillwater Public Library
a3V.iCrIY'ilenbZIi'?-..Tioect7,:ler's x.mill it':..atill.w.';r. ,�: 1, G�-L£ r -.1- 71,
�t3_, Toh.r. ari nhot ie-r� P,'".f_'x. .'tilivoTtie.L'*ir .2,.Cit ." a Ux
• TIi-ItprtcA'1:. Co1Inwt1oA E;o3w81.
This is said to be a photograph of the crew at the Schulenburg & Boeckeler sawmill in
1871. If that is true, almost everyone in this photograph would have been a resident
of Dutchtown. Notice the young boys in front who worked in the Mill.
Commercial Development
The first, and primary industry in Charlottenburg in these early
years was, of course, the Schulenburg and Boeckeler Mill and its company
store. But there were two other industries there as well.
45 The information for these residents was compiled from the Census records, and the Tax
Assessor's records.
45
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
Knips St. Croix Brewery
The second business in Charlottenburg, was the Knips Brewery on
Lot 4 of Block 32. Gerhardt Knips was born in Germany about 1830, and he
came to Stillwater from Missouri around 1857. It is highly probable that he
was well acquainted with either Schulenburg and Boeckeler and that he
came here perhaps at their request. In any case, he is established as a
Brewer in the 1857 Census, By 1861, the Assessor had valued his brewery at
close to $1000, a substantial building by any account.
Photograph Courtesy of the St. Croix Collection, Stillwater Public Library
The St. Croix Brewery, Knips building, was built before the Civil War. The building served as a brewery,
a rooming house, and under the last owner, Peter Newhouse, as the Wayside Tavern.
46
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
In 1866, there was a fire at the brewery, and the two upper stories
"constructed of wood and occupied as a residence" were "completely engulfed
in flames." 46 Nine years later, Knips was aided in his improvement efforts
by the railroad which was being built through Charlottenburg into downtown
Stillwater.
Brewery Improvements
The brewery of Mr. G. Knipps has been, greatly improved
during the past summer. This is partially owing to the work
done by the Railroad company, in digging away a large portion
of the immense bluff adjacent to his building. He has made
large excavations under the bluff in the rear of his brewery,
about 40 feet in length, which will eventually be extended to
about 125 feet. He has expended this season about $1,000 in the
way of repairs and improvements.47
In 1871, the Internal Revenue collected taxes on 400 Barrels of beer
made by Knips at his St. Croix Brewery; by comparison, Wolff & Co. in
Stillwater had distilled 700 Barrels. The Tepass Brewery had produced
1,267 Barrels. 48
In 1877, Gerhardt Knips leased the brewery to Fred Maisch, D.
Milbrook, and Joseph Homar,49 and Gerhardt and his son, Robert, moved to
Nobles County, Minnesota.5° The following year, the brewery was sold to
Louis Hospes,51 and in 1880, the building was purchased by Seymour, Sabin
and Co, a local manufacturing firm.52 They used it as a boarding house for
their employees. In the 1880 census, there were an astounding 38 boarders,
plus the landlord, Dettlof Jarchow, his wife, Lasettea, their four children and
two servants, all living in the old brewery! 53,54
Three years later, the building was embroiled in the bankruptcy
proceedings of Sabin, Seymour & Company; eventually it was sold to the
46 Stillwater Messenger, January 2, 1866. Thanks to Brent Peterson for this information.
47 The Stillwater Gazette, December 13, 1870
48 The Stillwater Gazette, October 24, 1871.
49 Stillwater Gazette, January 31, 1877.
50 "Town Topics," Stillwater Gazette, August 28, 1957.
51 I Deeds 506
52 8 Deeds 306
53 Thanks to Brent Peterson for making this connection.
54 There is a short biography of Dettlof Jarchow and his son, Louis D. in History of the St.
Croix Valley, edited by Augustus B. Easton. Chicago, H.C. Cooper Jr. & Co., 1909. Page
307.
47
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
Minnesota Commercial Company in 1888, which sold it to Peter Newhouse
around the turn of the century.55
Newhouse used the building, which by now had acquired the house
number, 1704 North Main Street, as a tenement —a multiple occupancy
dwelling. In 1913, he spent $600 on repairing the building.56
r
S . f.;roix: ai-ewery.
AT STILWATErt,
Mr..G. K II'B swim,* bigg ti a tit) 1Mb rtll
krire.rt, of GOOD, VRE . .. Oast "'fie tuts
traarged *arid thorolighly repaired iila
1614 b*& rei wined rthe mftr1t1f . tury of J3 r., with..
gr' ftly inter' fitelfititt tbe 'carrying on the
•
I pidp o. Aj ' to the -pedpo
. 'tillwater.auti i lolly two very .
Debt airlift. Of Itetri.i.
largeOrtititan c mantl•ties.
G. f lS. •
An ad from the 1860's for Knip's Brewery
55 74 Deeds 234
56 Stillwater Building Permit Application #521
48
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
The large three-story residence built of rubble limestone, probably
quarried from the site, remained until 1935 when the Minnesota
Department of Highways purchased it to widen N. Main Street running
north out of Stillwater. The brewery building, dating from 1872, and
arguably the finest structure ever built in Dutchtown, was razed in
November of 1935.57 Today, what appears to be the back wall of the old
Brewery remains in the Wayside Rest on Highway 95, about 300 feet south of
E. Poplar Street. The historic marker commemorating the Tamarack House
in Dacotah is affixed to the old wall, and even the casual observer can see the
nearby bricked up cave openings.
Pop Factory
The third commercial establishment in Charlottenburg which is
remembered to this day by some of its oldest residents is the "Pop Factory" of
the Schuelling Brothers. The German-born William Scherm.uly emigrated to
America in 1852, locating at Evansville, Indiana, where he learned the trade
of baker. In 1860, he came to Charlottenburg to keep the boarding house for
the Schulenburg Mill. After working for Schulenburg for several years, he
went into the soda pop business. 58
In 1870, his Dutchtown factory on the northwest corner of E. Hazel
and N. Broadway Streets was expanded:
Pop Factory
Wm. Schurmely is just completing an addition to his pop
factory, in Schulenburg's Addition, which, when finished, will
make it one of the finest buildings of the kind in the State. The
nature of the addition is entirely skyward —being an elevation
one story of the whole structure. The size on the ground is 60 by
33 feet. The building is of the most substantial nature,
indicating that Schurmely intends to make the pop business a
permanent thing.59
Another note under the annual summary of improvements for the year
in The Stillwater Gazette of December 13, 1870, expands the information a
57 The Stillwater News, November 15, 1935
58 History of Washington County and The St. Croix Valley, North Star Publishing Company,
Minneapolis, 1881. Page 597
59 The Stillwater Gazette, November 19, 1870
49
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
bit: W. Schermuly pop factory, 2 stories high, res. On 2nd floor, size 38 x 60
with square roof, lower story of stone, 2nd one of wood. $3,000.
In 1871, the establishment was sold:
Crank Beer and Pap
Wm. Schermuly, the celebrated `pop -man" has recently
sold out to the Messrs. Schuelling Brothers, who will hereafter
conduct the business of manufacturing pop or soda water, and
croak beer, at Schermuly's old stand, in Schulenburg's Addition.
Mr. Schermuly's cronk and pop have obtained the reputation
wherever they are known of being, by far superior in every
respect to any article of the kind manufactured in this vicinity.
The Schuelling Bros. having had much experience in Mr.
Schermuly's factory, are thoroughly posted, and guarantee to
furnish the purest and best article that can be produced. They
are desirous, not only of retaining the trade which Schermuly
had built up, but to add to their list as many new customers as
possible.6°
In 1875, the two brothers, Antone and William Schuelling apparently
went their separate ways. Antone occupied a new building in downtown
Stillwater for there is a note in the newspaper in 1875: A. Shuelling will
immediately occupy his building erected last fall, using the upper story for a
residence and the basement for the manufacture of pop, ale, etc.61 Three
weeks later, another newspaper article announced that "Antone Schuelling
last week occupied the Whiteside building on Myrtle Street and commenced
the manufacture of Pop, Lemon Beer, and Ginger ale. He has a large trade
throughout the city.62
This same year, William Schermuly, the original owner of the pop
factory, apparently thought the better of his decision to sell, for the
newspaper records that: 'William Schermully is fitting an ice cream saloon
at his place in Schulenburg Addition. It will be furnished with a fine large
Aquarium, which will contain trout, salmon, gold fish, &c. "63 Nothing more
is recorded about this ice cream saloon, and the following year, 1876,
Schermuly became editor of the German language, St. Croix Post.
60 The Stillwater Gazette, September 5, 1871
61 The Stillwater Lumberman, April 30, 1875
62 The Stillwater Lumberman, May 28, 1875.
63 The Stillwater Lumberman, July 9, 1875.
50
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
Wiliam Schuelling's large pop manufactory remained at 324 E. Hazel
Street within five feet of North Broadway Street until the turn of the
century. In November 1901, William Schuelling built a new house on the
location of his factory. It was a dwelling, 30 x 16 feet built against the
hillside with a five foot foundation. The cost at that time was $500. This
building was also used to sell Schuelling's beverage until his death in 1910.
After that date, the pop factory moved to 1220 North Main Street.64
When N. Broadway Street was widened in 1936, Schuelling's old house
was moved to the west side of the lot where it remains today.
Although from all accounts it appears William Schuelling lived an
exemplary life, his death was the material of which nightmares are made.
"William Schuelling passed away in Minneapolis at 3:00
o'clock yesterday afternoon. It was supposed he died Wednesday,
but he came to life after being laid out by an undertaker
preparatory to embalming his body. He was very low then and
gradually sank until the end came.65
Up to the 1880's these were the only businesses in Charlottenburg
other than the occasional saloon which only seem to stay in business for a
year or two. But, as we shall see, Dutchtown was to become considerably
more industrial in the years to come.
64 Stillwater Building Permit Application #1042; Stillwater City Directories
65 The Stillwater Gazette, May 14, 1910
51
Charlottenburg, 1853-1880
"IrLien, IL I— fl roe
V. farm
SItLEBUR
J
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AND 141AN1.:rm.7.
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(33ota.
The largest business in early Dutchtown was, of course, the Schulenburg & Boeckeler Mill.
Their company store supplied groceries and a whole range of merchandise to the residents of
Dutchtown until the 1890's. Those who worked in the Mill had accounts at the store, and their
purchases were deducted from their pay. This is another example of a "company town."
52
DUTCHTOWN 188O 1894
The People
In the 1880's, both Stillwater and Dutchtown changed. Stillwater
doubled in size, reaching a population of 9,055, from 4,506 in 1870. As the
population grew, the city expanded, and Dutchtown became less remote from
the remainder of Stillwater. In 1888, Second Street was ordered opened and
graded out to Willow Street, thus creating a second road to Dutchtown.
Although the demand for lumber to be used in Minneapolis, St. Paul,
the Red River Valley, and the Dakota's was insatiable, and Stillwater did its
best to help fulfill the demand, the growing city also became home to more
diversified businesses —no longer was it solely dependent on the lumber
industry. All the workers, including those in Dutchtown, had a greater
choice of jobs. The `80's were good years for Stillwater; there were probably
more new houses built in Stillwater during the 1880's than any other decade
until the suburban developments of the 1960's.
Some of the changes taking place in Dutchtown were reflected in the
1880 Census. There were approximately 74 households in Dutchtown,
containing about 450 people. Most of them were single-family households.
While many of the men (and several 12-and 13-year-old boys) were still
working in the sawmill, quite a few were working elsewhere: some in the
flour mills, some for the railroad, some for Seymour Sabin & Co, some for
other saw mills, and some for the prison. By the same token, a great many of
the workers at Schulenburg and Boeckeler no longer lived in Dutchtown, but
in the area to the south of E. Sycamore Street where Christopher Carli was
selling his lots in the south one-half of Carli & Schulenburg's Addition.
Ernest Hospes, who had replaced his father as the local partner in the
Schulenburg & Boeckeler Lumber Co., lived across town at 406 W. Olive
Street, and one Schulenburg & Boeckeler foreman, Thomas Maison, lived
way on the other side of town at 924 S. Fifth Avenue.
However, the Germans continue to hold sway over their community.
Of the 74 households, there were 2 Swiss, 2 Irish, 1 Canadian, and 1 Polish
family. The other 68 (92%) were either first- or second -generation Germans.
Almost all the residents were unskilled laborers. For skilled laborers, the
Census lists only 2 firemen, 1 wagon maker, 2 school teachers (ages 82 and
64!), 1 shoemaker, 1 tailor, 1 engineer, and 1 hermit: a Martin Flood, age 60,
an Irishman who lived at 1905 N. Second Street. The Census records also
show that the population was generally healthy, and there was only one
53
Dutchtown 1880-1894
insane person in the community: Bertha Zass, age 38, who lived with her
husband, Jacob, at 125 E. Willow Street
Dutchtown Settlement in 1880
Using the yearly tax assessor's records, we can get an idea of where
the houses were in Dutchtown, and how many of them were owned by the
Schulenburg & Boeckeler Lumber Company. (See Figure 8, page 55).
Unfortunately, for reasons not apparent, there is a discrepancy
between the yearly tax assessor's records, in which the tax assessor was to
visit every property in the city each year, and determine the value of the
house and lot, and the Census records. While the 1880 Census indicates
approximately 74 separate households in Dutchtown, the Assessor's records
only show about 45 houses.
For example, in Block 53 (Schulenburg Alley), the Assessor's records
indicate that in 1861, some of the lots were valued at $10, with a $40 dollar
improvement (house). The 1870 Birds Eye View map (Figure 5, page 29)
pictures nine houses on the Alley. By 1872, the assessor recorded a lot worth
$70, and a dwelling worth $200—a medium sized house then. In 1877,
during the depression, the value of both house and lot together was S200. By
1882, the assessor recorded the lot worth $200, but indicated there was no
building on the lot.66 Yet, in 1894, the City Directory lists residents living on
this lot.
This situation is further complicated by the fact that, in most years,
the Assessor only gave a total value for the lot without indicating whether
there was a house on the lot or not. In the case of Dutchtown, the matter is
even more complicated by the fact that many of the housing sites had a
succession of houses on the same lot. So, in the case of Schulenburg Alley,
the official records indicate there were houses on many of those building lots
before the Civil War; that houses remained on these sane Schulenburg Alley
lots through the 1870's; that by the early 1880's, all the houses were gone,
and by the early 1890's, a new crop of houses had been built.
Unlikely as that scenario is in the case of Schulenburg Alley, it did
happen on a some of the lots in Dutchtown. Originally, before the Civil War,
very small houses were built; these houses were expanded in the 1870's,
andthen in the prosperous years of the late 1880's and early '90's, new houses
were built on a same site which may, or may not have incorporated some or
56 Washington County Tax Assessor's Records; Microfilm Roll SAM 78, Roll 2, and
subsequent rolls.
54
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N. Fourth St W
E. Juniper St.
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N. Third St.
BIk.27
Bik. 28
BIk.36
BIk.37
BIk.45
BIk.46
BIk.57
N. Second St.
BIk.26
BIk.29
BIk.35
BIk.38
BIk.44
* +
BIk.47
Schoolhouse
BIk.56
4c
N. First St.
BIk.25
BIk.30
Bik. 34
BIk.39
*
Bik. 43
+
+ ac
BIk.48
+ + + +
BIk.55
+
N. Broadway St.
Hospes House
BIk.24
Bik. 31
BIk.33
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+
.
BIk.42
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+ 4c 4c +
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+ + +
+
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MILL
-__.
N. Lake St.
Mill Boom
BIk.51
+
Blk. 52
River Shore
Distribution of houses in Dutchtown in 1880
+ = Private homes. * = Houses owned by Schulenburg & Boeckeler
1768I-088I umo111p1nCI
Dutchtown 1880-1894
all of the older structure. Because there are relatively few good building lots
in that area, and because the labor in moving large amounts of earth to
prepare a building site was prohibitive in the 19th century, it makes sense
that people would reuse the few good building sites that were available.
For example, take the house at 1908 N. First Street, the NI/2 of Lot 3,
Block 48. Before the Civil War, Henry Freitag had a small house on this lot
as shown on the 1870 Bird's Eye View (Figure 5, page 29). In 1870, Albert
Mardans improved the house, and in the early 1880's, Wilhelm Janetz made
further improvements. Then in 1893, according to Stillwater Building
Permit Application #737, Janetz built a new $600 house on the site. The
same story can be told of the house at the other end of the block. John Berg
bought in 1881, for $400, a newer house at 1924 N. First Street which may
or may not have incorporated an earlier smaller home on that same site.
On the 1880 map (Figure 8, page 55), which is based on the tax
assessor's records, it is evident that the Schulenburg and Boeckeler Lumber
Co. has slightly increased the number of homes they owned. There does not
seem to be any pattern to the location of their houses, nor is there any
evidence that Schulenburg himself, or the Company, made any particular
effort to sell their lots —even in the land speculation years of the 1850's, or
the building boom years of the 1880's. Curiously enough, for whatever
reasons, they seemed quite content holding (and paying taxes) on most of the
original property they had purchased back in 1853.
Dutchtown Residents
By 1880, a number of families had settled in Dutchtown that were to
remain there for decades to come; family names that are still to be found in
Dutchtown and the larger area of Stillwater. All of the families listed below
are in the 1880 Census, indicating they had arrived in the previous decade.
The same families are listed in the 1894 City Directory.
Joseph Lustig and his wife Augusta lived at 2017 N. Broadway;
Frederick and Florentine Drager lived at 1820 N. Broadway; John and
Sophia Lembke resided at 2024 N. Lake; Julius Seikel, a wagonmaker, and
his wife, Henrietta, lived at 428 E. Alder; William Schuelling, the pop
manufacturer and his first wife, Josephine, lived at 324 E. Hazel for more
than 40 years until shortly before his death in 1910.
Gustave and Caroline Nothnagel lived at 305 E. Alder; James and
Mary Kelly, and their sons, Edward, John, and Joseph resided at 310 E.
Willow; (the hill on Willow Street was known as Kelly's Hill to the early
56
Dutchtown 1880-1894
residents). William Janitz built a new house at 1908 N. First, while his two
sons, Herman and Phillip, resided at 1818 N. Broadway.
Christopher Glaser and his wife, Caroline lived with their two sons,
Charles and Emil, at 122 E. Hazel. John Rengstorff, the teacher, and his
wife lived at 1924 N. Broadway; after his death, his widow, Doretta, lived
with her son, George, at the same address. Christopher Diethert lived at
1806 Broadway, and William Korn, the son of August and Paulina, resided at
307 E. Willow.
Rudolph Reutimann, and his wife, Bertha, lived at 2022 N. Broadway.
The Ponath family was represented by several members: Charles and Anna
lived at 1410 N. First Street; John Ponath resided at 309 E. Willow, and
Edward Ponath lived at 1915 N. Second St. Ludwig and Johanna Guse came
in the mid-1870's; in 1927, Johanna, a widow, was living at 224 E. Willow
Street.
In 1881, John Berg and his wife, Augusta, purchased Lot 1, Block 48,
and a house at what became 1924 N. First Street. His three sons, Reinhart,
William, and Charles, remained in Dutchtown, and today, almost 120 years
later, his granddaughter, Louise Berg, still lives in the family home.
Dutchtown Wells
One of the peculiar problems in Dutchtown was the lack of drinking
water. In other parts of the city, during the 1870's, 80's, and 90's, drinking
water was generally supplied by a water truck, which would draw water from
Lake McKusick, and deliver it to a cistern in the basement of most houses.
In Dutchtown, their drinking water, from the very beginning was supplied
from wells. This peculiarity may have been a combination of being some
distance from the rest of the city and the steep hills in the community,
making a horse drawn water wagon difficult, if not impossible.
By 1892, there were four wells in use in Dutchtown. One was on the
east edge of Lot 2, Block 47, the Block reserved for the schoolhouse. There is
a note in The Stillwater Lumberman of April 23, 1875, noting that the School
Board paid $5 for a year's rent on that well.
A second well was in the middle of N. First Street just west of the line
separating Lots 5 and 6 in Block 42. A third well was in the middle of Lot 2,
Block 42, just a few feet east of where Lots 2 and 5 meet. The pump for this
third well remains in the yard behind 1812 N. Broadway.
The fourth well about which we have the most information, was on the
north side of E. Alder Street directly south of the home at 2103 Schulenburg
57
Dutchtown 1880-1894
Alley; north of Schulenburg Alley as it exits into Alder Street. This was
owned by an organization which, according to the "Dutchtown Well Book" in
the possession of the Washington County Historical Society, operated the
well from May of 1877 until 1918.
Picture Courtesy Louise Berg
Alder Street Well with Mrs. Neske
the
This book, written in the old
German script, is the record of the
"Owners of the well in the northeast
corner of Schulenburg's Addition
between the residences of Mr. William
Steinkamp and William Holtzman..."
From the information contained in the
book, it appears there were 12 owners'
shares in that particular well. A share
in the well cost $6—a considerable
sum when the average working man
earned about $2 a day. In addition to
this initial cost, there was a quarterly
assessment of $.25 for the cleaning and
repair of the well, although
shareholders were also expected to
contribute labor toward cleaning the
well. If you moved from the area, you
could sell your share to another
resident, and regain your $6
investment. On at least one occasion,
balance in the well account exceeded $19, and a refund of $1 was made to
each shareholder. There were also accounts kept for those who just rented
the well on a year lease.
Although the minutes of the Association are sparse, it makes note of
the usual problems in such cases: people not paying their quarterly
assessments; at least one question as to who was the rightful owner of a
share; and officers unexpectedly resigning.
In a delightful reminisce of Dutchtown written in 1989, by Lillian and
Louise Berg whose family came to Dutchtown in 1880, the wells are
described:
"There were four community wells in the early days. The
furthest north was on Alder Street on the street going down to
Wolfs Marina and Rurnpf"s Marina. The people south of the
railroad overpass, Broadway Street, Willow Street and Poplar
Street went to the one off North First Street. Also in this area
58
Dutchtown 1880-1894
one of the earliest private wells was also used by the people in the
area.
The third well was one on North Second
Street by the Schulen,burg School. These
wells were abandoned many years ago.
The last one to be torn down and covered
was the one on North Second Street. It
was a long way for some people to go and
get fresh water. Some people had yokes
over their shoulders to make it easy to
carry two buckets of water at one time.
Most houses had a cistern in which they
collected water for bathing and washing
clothes." 67
The MiII
Although the mill was no longer the only
source of employment for Dutchtown residents, it
still played an important role in both Stillwater
and St. Louis. The following summary from
1882, gives an idea of its business.
Picture Courtesy of Don Teske
The well house behind 1812 N.
roadway
The business now conducted by the above company was
first started in St. Louis by Messrs. Schulenburg & Boeckeler in
1844, with only a moderate capital; but through their energy and
perseverance their trade so rapidly increased that in the year
1854 they were compelled to increase their facilities, and during
that year established a house in Stillwater, Minn. In, February,
1880, a joint stock coinpany was organized. The present officers
are: A. Boeckeler. President; E. L. Hospes, Vice President; Chas.
W. Behrens Secretary; and L. C. Hirschberg, Treasurer. The
company now have a capital stock of $500,000 ; their annual
sales for the last ten years aggregate 50,000,000 feet of lumber,
30, 000, 000 shingles, and 15, 000, 000 laths, their sales last year
reaching the enormous figures of $1,250,000. They keep
constantly employed in the various branches of their business
over 1,000 men, about 400 of whom are employed in St. Louis.
67 Stillwater My Hometown and Yours, Unit 48, American Legion Auxiliary, 1989. Chapter
21, Carli and Schulenburg's Addition —Third Ward Dutchtown, by Lillian and Louise Berg.
Page 79.
59
Dutchtown 1880-1894
200 on the river and about 400 at the yards and mill at
Stillwater Minn. The yards in this city, [St. Louis] located as
above stated, are large and commodious, occupying thirty acres
of ground, and are kept constantly filled with one of the largest
and most complete stocks of lumber to be found in this or any
other market in the United States. The river yards, located from
North Market and to Harrison Streets are supplied with all the
necessary conveniences for conducting the business successfully
and economically. The company have two large saw mills, one
being located at the corner of Second and Exchange Streets, St.
Louis and the other in Stillwater, Minn., both of which are
supplied with the latest and most improved machinery; and, in
fact, over the whole of their immense establishment, directing,
instructing, and managing, from the smallest detail to the
largest and most critical operations, the influence of the
proprietors is ever active....'68
Letterhead from the Mill
In May of 1881, Schulenburg and Boeckeler landed on the public
wharf at St. Louis, 945,000 feet of lumber, 461,000 shingles, 300,000 lathes
and 5,000 pickets.°9
In 1882, The Stillwater City Council passeda resolution that basically
extended North Main Street over the course of Lake Street in front of Block
32. In doing so, the Council also ordered the thoroughfare to be moved
slightly to the west between Lots 4 and 14 where the main commercial
ss St. Louis: Her Trade, Commerce and Industries, 1882-3. By Jno. E. Land. St. Louis:
Published by the Author, 1882. Page 112.
ss Leverett Bell, The city of St. Louis, respondent vs. The Schulenburg & Boeckeler Lumber
Co, appellant, no. 2551; In the St. Louis Court of Appeals, Oct. 1882.
60
Dutchtown 1880-1894
district of Dutchtown existed.70 With this action, the Council doomed the
business structures, including the Schulenburg and Boeckeler Company
store which was across the street from the Mill about 100 hundred feet north
of E. Sycamore Street. This store had been the only grocery and general
store serving Dutchtown since its beginning in 1853.
Neighborhood Stores
Perhaps with the proposed removal of the Schulenburg and Boeckeler
company store in mind, James P. Hanson built, in 1888, a $300 one-story
store and dwelling on Block 32, Lot 1, which was the southwest corner of N.
Main and E. Poplar Street (401 E. Poplar Street).71 Six years later, he added
a second story to the building. This was the first privately owned grocery
and retail store in Dutchtown. It had a number of owners over the following
decades: Georgiana Simonson was the proprietor around 1910, but it is most
commonly remembered as "Stenzel's Store" for Fred and Amelia Stenzel who
were more recently the proprietors.
Soon after, Hanson also built another grocery store on the northeast
corner of Myrtle and Owens Streets; today this is known as "Len's Groceries."
In their book, the Berg sisters describe these neighborhood stores:
"The neighborhood stores were "life savers" to many a
household. So, too, were the three which at one time or another
served this end of Stillwater. We remember Hanson's owned and
maintained by Mrs. Hanson, a little Swedish lady. This store
was located on North Broadway. It changed hands three times.
It became Simonson's, Carlson's and Stenzel's. For a brief time,
there was the Ousely's Store [1820 N. Broadway] at Willow and
Broadway. The last one was the Doderwick Store [George
Datterwerch, 324 E. Hazel] on Hazel and Broadway." The store
at 324 E. Hazel was the old Schuelling Pop Factory which the
Bergs remember: `For many years as we were growing up, we
had the Schilling Pop Factory on the corner of Hazel and
Broadway. In the summer Mr. Schilling would hire some of the
older boys to help him wash the empty glass bottles. Their pay-
70 70 Deeds 335, 336, 337.
71 City of Stillwater Building Permit Applications #284 and #781.
61
Picture courtesy of John Larson, Taylors Falls.
CREAM
THE CRE BHA s ALL CREAM
STILLWATE MINN.
The Hanson, Simonson, Stenzel grocery store at 401 E. Poplar Street.
The Simonson children (L-R) pictured in this circa 1913 photograph are Gilbert,
Vivian and Oswald.
n
GC
Go
Dutchtown 1880-1894
a penny a bottle. When this factory moved closer to town, the
property became the last neighborhood store.f772
The 1882 City Council Resolution moving N. Main Street was not put
into effect until April of 1910 when the Council also ordered the vacation of
Lake Street73 between the southern boundary of Carli and Schulenburg's
Addition, and Hazel Street. This resolution wiped out all the development on
the west side of Main Street up to the old brewery building, and basically
charted the route Highway 95 follows today north of E. Sycamore Street to N.
Broadway Street. When driving north on the road today, your imagination
must move the roadway to the east, and picture a line of wood frame
buildings, including the Schulenburg and Boeckeler general store and their
boarding house on your left side between the road and the bluff.
Schulenburg Alley
A street developed early in Dutchtown history was Schulenburg Alley.
It is a unique street in Dutchtown, because it was never platted, either as
part of the original plat, or at any subsequent time. There has been no
official record of the street's existence as a public thoroughfare, nor have
there ever been deeds recorded conveying title of the street to the public.
Nonetheless the street has existed for over a century; a passageway is shown
between the houses on the 1870 Birds Eye View map. (See Figure 5, page 29)
The 1892 Stillwater City Directory lists it as one of the streets of the city, and
it is shown on the 1892 Map of Dutchtown complete with house numbers.
According to Barry Stack, a knowledgeable Stillwater surveyor who
recently worked in Dutchtown, the existence today of Schulenburg Alley is a
matter of an easement by prescription, the result of a passageway being used
by the public for a long period of time without objection by the owner of the
property. After so many years of unopposed public use, the path becomes a
public thoroughfare.
Until 1902, this entire block and all the houses on it were the exclusive
property of Frederick Schulenburg, and the Schulenburg & Boeckeler
Lumber Company. The first use of the name over a 120 years ago might well
have been "Schulenburg's Alley" used in the possessive sense. As absentee
72 Stillwater My Hometown and Yours, Unit 48, American Legion Auxiliary, 1989. Chapter
21, Carli and Schulenburg's Addition —Third Ward Dutchtown, by T,illian and Louise Berg.
Page 81.
73 70 Deeds 339
63
Dutchtown 1880-1894
landlords, they were perhaps not as concerned; perhaps they were not even
aware of the continuous usage as a public street, or maybe it suited their
purposes to have it used as a public thoroughfare. 74
Prices
In 1880, a dozen eggs might cost 121/2 cents; butter was
20 cents a pound. Ham was 40 cents a pound, and (in April)
potatoes were selling for 60 cents a bushel. A common laborer
would make $1.50 to $2 for a 10-12 hour day. A skilled
worker might make up to $3 a day. An average building lot
in the "suburbs" cost between $40 and $60; an average house
would cost between $300 and $500. A good cow could cost as
much as $75. Almost everyone walked so there were no
transportation costs.75
Disaster Again
In August of 1892, disaster again struck the Schulenburg & Boeckeler
Lumber Company.
"At 4:35 yesterday morning residents of this city were
awakened from their peaceful slumbers by the whistle on the
pontoon bridge, and later by the clanging of the fire bell. The toll
collector at the bridge noticed a fire in the Schulenburg &
Boeckeler lumber company's saw mill, and having heard no
alarm, he immediately sounded the pontoon whistle. The
watchman at the mill was busy fixing up the fires in the boiler
room, and did not know that the mill was burning until he was
notified by an employee at the boom, who chanced to be passing
by the mill when the flames broke through the roof of the late
sawing department in the south eastern part of the mill. An
alarm was sent in, and the fire department responded promptly,
but before they reached the scene of the conflagration, the entire
mill was a mass of burning timbers, and nothing could be done
to save it. Their efforts were then directed toward saving the
74 Conversation with Barry Stack, February 20, 1998.
75 Stillwater Lumberman, April 25, 1879.
64
Dutchtown 1889-1894
Picture Courtesy of the St. Croix Collection, Stillwater Public Library
The second Schulenburg & Boeckeler Mill built in 1877 and burned in 1892. Notice
the Hospes house above the trees on the left side.
engine room, but the flames were too hot, and soon found a way
into the room. Several streams were turned on that part of the
mill, and Mr. Hospes, local manager of the company, thinks that
some parts of the machinery may be used again. An eye witness
of the fire stated to a Messenger representative that the flames
spread in a surprisingly short time, and it did not seem more
than three minutes from the time when the fire was first
discovered until the entire mill was ablaze, and the flames shot
up fully a hundred feet in the air. The beams and rafters were
dry, and in many places were covered with oil, which furnished
excellent food for the flames. The walls of the boiler room, the
gehenna and the large chimney are the only remaining relics of
one of the best equipped and largest mills on the St. Croix. The
mill was built in 1877, shortly after the old mill burned to the
ground, and cost, including machinery and boilers, $125, 000.
The loss will amount to more than $100,000 on which there was
an insurance of $63, 000. It had a capacity of 225,000 feet per
day, but had not been running at full capacity this season, the
daily output aggregating about 175,000 feet. Mr. Hospes,
however, was making all necessary preparations for increasing
the cut, and expected to have all of the saws running within a
65
Dutchtown 1880-1894
few days. The concern employed nearly 150 men, a majority
of them Germans, residing in Schulenburg's Addition, who
will be thrown out of employment. Many of the families
have no other means of support, and to these the
destruction of the mill in the busy season will prove a hard
blow. Mr. Hospes when asked yesterday whether or not the mill
would be rebuilt replied that he could not answer that question
until he had conferred with his associates, who reside in St.
Louis..."76
Four days later, the rival newspaper, The Stillwater Gazette, had a
somewhat different story of the events leading up to the discovery of the fire,
but they also addressed the issue of rebuilding the Mill:
In reference to the probability of the Schulenburg-
Boeckeler saw mill being rebuilt, E. L. Hospes, the manager, says
no decision has as yet been reached by the owners, neither does
he care express any opinion in regard to the matter just now.
He does desire however, to most• emphatically head off and
forever set at rest the senseless and baseless story that one reason
operating adversely to the idea of rebuilding is the shallowness
of the water in the immediate vicinity of the works. This rumor
had its origin, no doubt, in the fact that in extremely low water,
it has been found necessary to dredge in the vicinity of the mill
for the purpose of increasing the depth of water where most
needed; but this same work has been found necessary at several
other mills along the shores of the lake.
Furthermore, Ernest says, the cost of getting logs from the
boom to their mill has always been kept down to a satisfactory
minimum probably below the average cost at other mills.
In case the institution is built up again it will be on
precisely the same site, as every reason points to the propriety of
so doing. The solid foundation walls, the engine house, the
burner, and the vast amount of costly outlying apparatus for
handling the material are all there —in cost reaching up into the
big thousands —which, in case of removal would not only be
useless, but would have to be re -organized in the new locality.
It has been reported that, in all probability, if the company
should rebuild it would be at South Stillwater [Bayport} where it
owns land: but the fact that the company owns no land at South
Stillwater effectually quiets that story."77
76 Stillwater Messenger, August 6, 1892.
7' The Stillwater Gazette, August 10, 1892.
66
Dutchtown 1880-1894
Illustration from The Saint Louis of Today, printed, bound, and distributed at the St. Louis
Exposition, issued by The Western Commercial Travelers' Association, St. Louis, 1888.
BOEGKELER,
PEtsIDc.n.
E, L HOSPES,
.,CE• PRESSEtWt.
CHAS. W. BEHRENS.
stc.ctAtY.
E.C. HIRSCHBERG,
uEN& vace•pG‘
LUJmBER GomPrw?.
kor
GANG SAW MILLS GANG SAW MILLS
STILLWYATER. MINN.
YARDS
ST. tCU IS AVENUE AN RIVER,
ST. LOUIS, MO.
ON RIVER froNY FROM N. MARKET TO HARRISON STREETS.
• SAWMILL • PLANING MILL • OFI ICE • •
St. I.1.ouis Avenue and Hall Street,
ST. 11001S, MO.
67
Dutchtown 1880-1894
One Saga Ends
In March of 1893, the country hovered on the brink of another of those
financial depressions that are the plague of our economic system. Six years
of depression in the trans -Mississippi West, the decline of foreign trade after
the enactment of the McKinley tariff, and an abnormally high burden of
private debt were disquieting features of the situation. Most attention was
centered, however, on the gold reserve in the federal Treasury. It was
assumed that a minimum reserve of $ 100, 000, 000 was necessary to assure
redemption of government obligations in gold. When on April 21, 1893, the
reserve fell below that amount, the psychological impact was far-reaching.
Investors hastened to convert their holdings into gold; banks and brokerage
houses were hard-pressed; and many business houses and financial
institutions failed. Prices dropped, employment was curtailed, and the nation
entered a period of severe economic depression that continued for more than
three years.
Adolphus Boeckeler
Illustration from Old and New St. Louis., by James Cox.
Central Biographical Publishing Company, St. Louis, 1894.
68
Dutchtown 1880-1894
The following year, in June of 1894, Frederick Schulenburg died, and
on October 27th, 1894, Adolphus Boeckeler, the founder and President of the
Schulenburg and Boeckeler Lumber Company died while on a visit to
Germany. With both the principals of the Company dead (although
Schulenburg had not been active in the Company for years), the devastating
effects of the Panic of 1893, and the increasing difficulty of obtaining good
timber at a reasonable price, the once mighty Schulenburg and Boeckeler
Lumber Company, sued by one of its creditors, William Carlisle & Co,78 went
into voluntary receivership on November 9, 1894, and assigned all its assets
to the benefit of its creditors.
In Stillwater, the Company's property, equipment, and other assets
were sold to Isaac Staples for the sum of $40,000.79 Staples, in turn, sold the
Mill property to the Staples-Atlee Saw Mill Company who operated the Mill
until 1901, at which time it was sold to George H. Atwood, who operated it
under the name of the Atwood B Mill.80
Boeckeler's 7,270 shares of Schulenburg and Boeckeler stock, with a
par value of $363,500 were completely worthless. His assets were
"insufficient to pay his debts." The company's real estate in St. Louis was
auctioned off to pay its debts, and all that remained of his Stillwater interests
was one cemetery lot in Fairview Cemetery. Boeckeler left a widow, Elise,
and four grown children: William, Charlotte, Henry, and Adolph.81.82
And so ended the saga of the Schulenburg and Boeckeler Lumber
Company which had begun 44 years earlier when the young ambitious
Adolphus Boeckeler had stepped onto the St. Louis waterfront with bright
dreams and great riches before him.
78 Encyclopedia of the History of St. Louis. Edited by William Hyde and Howard L. Conard,
Vol 1, New York, The Southern History Company, 1899. Page 187. This contains a good
biography of Boeckeler.
78 District Court Proceedings, reported in The Stillwater Gazette, June 11, 1895.
80 46 Deeds 90; 46 Deeds 105; 52 Deeds 541; 52 Deeds 539
81 Probate Court Record, #20967, St. Louis District Court.
82 One of his sons, Henry, along with his brothers, organized in 1895, the Boeckeler Lumber
Company in St. Louis, and carried on a business of wholesale and retail lumber sales. The
Book of St. Louisans, edited by John W. Leonard, St. Louis, The St. Louis Republic, 1906.
69
70
THE TRANSITION YEARS, 1894=1902
The Residents
In 1894, we have a remarkable convergence of sources, giving us the
most complete picture of Dutchtown when it was its zenith. This very
detailed listing of residents, houses, and values is given in Appendix A --
which the careful reader will want to peruse --but it is worth summarizing
some of the information here. Unfortunately there is no remaining census
for 1890, so we cannot make a direct comparison with earlier decades.
Appendix A indicates there were 111 buildings in Dutchtown, almost
all of them single-family residences. Seventy one of these buildings (64%)
were owned by the Schulenburg and Boeckeler Lumber Company. There
were 171 names listed in Dutchtown. Most of them were workers (male)
along with 17 (a disproportionately high number of) widows. Estimating that
each household might contain four other people (wives and children), that
would put the population of Dutchtown at about 850 residents. Of the
laboring men, 60 were listed as working specifically at Schulenburg and
Boeckeler; with many of the other names, no employer is mentioned. We
could assume that at least half of the laboring men in the settlement worked
at, or were in, some way connected with the Schulenburg & Boeckeler Mill.
However, the City Directory also indicates that there were a number of
employees of the Mill who did not live in Dutchtown.
The Appendix also shows that of the 111 structures in Dutchtown in
1894, 32 of them, or almost 30%, were destroyed within the next 33 years —
by 1927. This was undoubtedly part due to the demise of the Mill, and partly
as a consequence of so many of the homes being small sub -standard
dwellings. It was a trend that would continue, in the old part of Dutchtown,
until the last decade.
Like the previous 40 years, the residents of Dutchtown were working
people; there were very few skilled tradesmen or shopkeepers among them.
If anything, this characteristic of the community was even more pronounced
in the 1890's, for no longer did Schulenburg, or Hospes, or Drawer, or the
other "bosses" live among them. Most of those listed in the City Directory as
foreman or engineers at the Mill lived outside of Dutchtown.
Although Stillwater was an industrial city with many neighborhoods
inhabited largely by working men, it does appear, from looking at the records
71
The Transition Years, 1894-1902
of other neighborhoods, that Dutchtown, at least in its housing stock, was
one of the poorest neighborhoods. This may have been the result of its early
settlement in the 1850's when very small houses, common in those times,
were built and never upgraded. It may have been the lack of good building
locations among the rock and bluffs of that area of the city; and it may have
been fostered by the relative isolation of the area and its strong German
affiliation which discouraged outsiders from building there.
The Mill
In 1895, the wealthy lumber baron of Stillwater, Isaac Staples,
purchased the assets of the bankrupt Schulenburg and Boeckeler Mill for
$40,000. The following year, he sold the Mill and Mill property to The
Staples & Atlee Saw Mill Company incorporated specifically to purchase and
operate the old Schulenburg & Boeckeler Mill. The incorporators were Isaac
Staples, Sam Atlee (of Fort Madison, Iowa), E. L. Hospes (previously
managing director of the S&B Mill), W. G. Bronson, and I. Edwin Staples.83
In 1901, the Mill was sold again, this time to George Henry Atwood, a
veteran second generation lumberman who had come to Stillwater in 1884 to
work for Hersey, Bean & Brown, another large sawmill in Stillwater. Born
in Waterville, Maine, in November of 1861, Atwood attended Bowdoin
College in Brunswick, Maine. 84
In 1891, Atwood, having secured a large stock of timber, leased the
Hersey Mill, and in 1901, he purchased the old Schulenburg Mill which he
renamed the Atwood "B" Mill. According to the local history (which may
have been less than impartial), under Atwood's direction, "The number of
men employed and the distribution of wages during this period was in excess
of any other institution of the St. Croix Valley." 85 Atwood was engaged in a
number of business endeavors; among others he was a partner of Frederick
Weyerhauser and William Sauntry in the Atwood Lumber Company of
Willow River, Minnesota.
Atwood was a shrewd businessman, realizing that in the 1890's, the
secret of the lumber industry was obtaining the timber to cut. If the raw
materialcould be had, business was good. In 1900, Minnesota ranked third
among all states in the production of lumber, the highest place she was to
reach in that field. Her mills ranked in first place among all the mills in the
83 History of the St. Croix Valley, edited by Augustus B. Easton. Chicago, H.C. Cooper Jr. &
Co., 1909. Page 141.
84 Obituary, Stillwater. Daily Gazette, March 16, 1938.
85 Ibid, page 181.
72
The Transition Years, 1894-1902
United States in the average output of product in each establishment, in
number of employees per establishment, in total wages paid per
establishment, and in the average product per wage owner.86
With the Mill, Atwood bought all of the property that had belonged
previously to Frederick Schulenburg, and Schulenburg and Boeckeler
Lumber Company. He turned what is today the golf course, and other
property between E. Sycamore Street and E. Poplar Street into an area
known to old timers as "The Atwood Farm." The Hospes house on N. First
Street became a kind of country residence.
In August of 1902, George Atwood sold all the Dutchtown lots that had
been held since the beginning by the Schulenburg and Boeckeler Lumber
Company. At prices ranging from $25 to $150, he gave over 50 quit claim
deeds to the residents who had lived in homes on these properties for so
many years. With these transactions, Dutchtown lost the last vestiges of its
50-year existence as a company town. See Appendix B.
Separated geographically, and somewhat out of orbit from the rest of
Stillwater, there are few references to Dutchtown in the newspapers of the
period, and those few references do not paint a glowing picture of the
community. Take, for example, the following article from the Stillwater
Gazette of April 26, 1899:
Dutch Town Jangles
There have been family jars in Dutch town for several
days and the matter was aired in the municipal court this
morning.
An interpreter had a lively time of it explaining matters
between the women, who are the mothers of lively boys, and
Judge Doe was on the point of locking the contending families up
for the present to prevent the renewal of hostilities.
Mrs. Hulda Hintz was before the court a couple of weeks
ago on a charge of immoral conduct.
Mrs. Eva Roeder was a witness in the case. Since the
discharge of Mrs. Hintz there has been enmity between the
families.
The women have been hurling bad language at each other
and the boys of the two families have been throwing stones with
their bands and sling shots, after the manner of David and
86 History of the White Pine Industry in Minnesota by Agnes M. Larson, University of
Minnesota Press, 1949. Page 360.
73
The Transition Years, 1894-1902
Goliath. The Roeder woman got hold of a Hintz boy and beat
him with a stick of wood and cleaved his face.
Judge Doe gave the women and boys to understand that
the weapons of warfare must be destroyed, the use of billingsgate
must be stopped, and if peace is not preserved in the future, the
women and their boys would have to be incarcerated in jail.
With a final warning the quarrelsome denizens of Dutch Town
were allowed to go home."
74
THE WANING TIME, 1902-1960
Decline
Under the direction of George Atwood, the Mill continued to produce
lumber and jobs, but it was becoming more and more apparent that the
logging industry in Stillwater was coming to an end. The great white pine
forests of the upper St. Croix Valley and its tributaries had long since been
cut, and even the use of the railroad to haul timber from the northern
reaches of the state was not economically sufficient to justify sawing the
lumber in the St. Croix Valley. Many of the lumberman had already
migrated to the Pacific Northwest where the supply of lumber was plentiful,
and the industry flourishing.
From a high of 12,318 residents in Stillwater in 1900, the number to
dropped to 10,198 by 1910, and after the last log floated down the St. Croix in
1914, the population dropped precipitously to 7,735 by 1920--a drop of 37
percent over a 20-year period.
In August of 1902, The Stillwater City Council vacated N. Lake Street
between E. Poplar Street and the southern boundary of Hazel Street, and
gave it to George H. Atwood, owner of the Schulenburg and Boeckeler Mill.88
Disaster, Again
On June 16, 1907, disaster struck again.
ATWOOD B MILL FOOD FOR FLAMES
"The George H. Atwood `B" sawmill, a model one in which
the owner took great pride, was destroyed yesterday afternoon in
a whirlwind of flame and with a swiftness that was astonishing.
It was about half an hour after 4 o'clock that the bridge whistle
gave the alarm and in an incredibly short time the large mill
building and a portion of the rafting shed, were a flame of fire
throwing out such great heat that the fire department could not
get near upon their arrival.. ..The fire department directed its
energies to saving the office building and other structures across
88 Stillwater Daily Gazette, August 13, 1902.
75
The Waning Time, 1902-1960
the street from the mill and kept them saturated with water until
the heat became less intense...Great throngs of people gathered
on the streets and scores of launches and boats on the lake were
filled with people intensely interested in the great spectacle of
destroying an institution that meant much to many people in
addition to the owner....Mr. Atwood arrived at the scene in an
automobile about the time the fire department got there...The
loss was estimated by Mr. Atwood at about $160,000 with
$60,500 insurance. The mill was built after the fire in 1892 at a
cost of $155,000. Mr. Atwood bought it in the spring of 1901 and
expended $85,000 in improvements...All the appliances were of
the most modern kind and it had a fine electric light plant...It
was expected that the mill would be good for years to come.
There were on hand 18, 000, 000 feet of logs to be sawed this
season,...Atwood recently made a contract for a large quantity of
hemlock timber on the Omaha road in Wisconsin, and had
planned to railroad from there 60,000,000 feet of logs to be sawed
at this mill within the next few year and piled in his yards
here.... The [Fire] Department did such faithful work that Mr.
Atwood gave proof of his appreciation. He provided them and
the citizens who assisted at the fire, supper in the early evening
and lunch again at midnight. He also gave Chief Fred H.
Thompson a check for $100 for the use of himself and his
men.... The mill gave employment to 225 men and they are left
without work until they can secure other places or the mill can be
replaced." 89
Unlike the aftermath of previous fires, however, there seemed to be
plenty of jobs in other parts of Stillwater for the newly unemployed mill
workers. Next to the very newspaper story reporting the fire, there was a
notice:
"Notice to Mill Men
If any of the men thrown out of employment by the
burning of the Atwood mill desire positions, I will be pleased to
have them call on me at the Gazette office on Tuesday and
Wednesday of this week, between the hours of 11:00 A.M. and
3: 00 P.M. Should I not be there Tuesday, please leave name and
address and I will be there on Wednesday sure.
Otis Staples."
89 Stillwater Daily Gazette, June 17, 1907.
76
The Waning Time, 1902-1960
Despite the optimism of Atwood, and the quantity of lumber which he
had anticipated sawing at the "B" Mill, the Mill was never rebuilt. A few
years later, the site was cleared, and The Twin City Forge and Foundry, a
corporation founded and owned by George H. Atwood built their Drop Forge
Plant on the site of the old Mill. Like most businessmen, Atwood and his
businesses suffered through the Great Depression of 1929, and on March 16,
1938, George Atwood died. At the time of his death, the newspaper obituary
records, Atwood's only business connection was as a director of the First
National Bank.9°
Commercial Buildings Destroyed
Three years after the burning of the Mill in 1907, the 1882 resolution
to move N. Main Street slightly to the west to widen the street and remove it
from its close proximity to the railroad tracks, was ordered into effect.
Combined with it was a new resolution to vacate the old Lake Street that was
platted on the Carli and Schulenburg Addition,
All the buildings between the road and the bluff on the west side of N.
Main Street„ which by now were vacant, were destroyed. They included a
large two-story building at 1402-06 N. Main on the northwest corner of E.
Sycamore and N. Main Streets; the old Schulenburg and Boeckeler general
store, later an office for the Mill, at 1410-12-14 N. Main Street; a dwelling at
1424 N. Main; the old Schulenburg and Boeckeler Boarding house at 1506-08
N. Main; a two story building at 1514 N. Main; and a dwelling at 1524 N.
Main. The old Knips Brewery building was spared as was the grocery store
further north on E. Poplar Street. This action by the city eliminated most of
the old business district that had been built in the 1850's and 1860's and
associated with the Mill (See Figure 6, page 37). Other old houses on N.
Main Street south of E. Sycamore Street were also taken in this street
realignment. 91
By the turn of the century, it is worth noting, E. Sycamore Street had
been cut through the bluff and provided a passageway for vehicles from N.
Second Street east to Main Street. Although no longer open or used, the
careful observer can still see the cut down the bluff where the street used to
run below the Hospes homestead. This is the only landmark remaining today
to orient the student of history seeking to trace out the exact location of these
long -ago buildings that once played such a vital role in Dutchtown's history.
9° Stillwater Daily Gazette, March 16, 1938
91 Sanborn Insurance Maps, 1884, 1881, 1891, 1898, 1904, 1910.
77
The Waning Time, 1902-1960
New Commercial Development
In 1910, The American Clay Products Company, organized by local
people, with a capital stock of $100, 000 built a large $25,000 building on
Block 50, just south of the home at 1921 N. Broadway. The plant was to
manufacture hollow brick and drain tile.
This area had been commercial for some time. As early as 1884, the
North Western Manufacturing Company, which had its headquarters further
south on Main Street, had 10 large warehouse sheds on the east side of N.
Broadway Street, and south of E. Willow Street in which they stored their
threshing machines. These sheds, s11 together, measured approximately 290
feet by 350 feet.92
In August of 1910, shortly after The American Clay Products Company
production began, there was a serious fire with about $20,000 damage. In
describing the fire, the newspaper struck a familiar note for those living in
Dutchtown.
'The plant afforded employment to fifty men, most of
whom have lived for years in the northern end of the city.
Women whose husbands and sons worked in the factory watched
the flames with wringing hands and tears in their eyes
lamenting the loss of employment"93
Two months later, in October of 1910, The American Clay Products
Company applied for a permit to construct another large one-story building
332 feet long by 80 feet (fronting on N. Broadway Street) wide, on Block 50 of
Car li & Schulenburg's Addition. This second building was constructed of
wood, had an earth floor, and cost $3500.94
To the east of this building, the Berg sisters remember:
"The area which is now Riverside Drive [Lakeside Drive]
was the recreational area. The ball park was there; on the river
was the skating and swimming hole...The river was our skating
rink. We flooded it with buckets of water from a hole in the ice,
and cleared the area of snow when necessary. We brought wood
from home for the fire...This area was later sold for commercial
purposes. We remember a pottery factory. During the World
War, it was a munitions factory. Gilbert Manufacturing was the
92 Sanborn Insurance Map, 1884
93 Stillwater Daily Gazette, August 9, 1910.
94 City of Stillwater Building Permit Application, #1418.
78
The Waning Time, 1902-1960
last commercial enterprise...The same area of the river [at the
foot of E. Hazel Street] was our swimming hole in the summer.
It had a beautiful beach. Today this is private property.
Summertime fun was fishing, jacks, baseball, jumping rope,
playing hopscotch, marbles, playing store, filling bottles with
sand we colored and sold to friends for pins, needles, and
buttons. In the evening the boys played run -sheep -run and other
games. '95
According to the boys who grew up there, there were also long bobsled
rides from the top of N. Second Street, down E. Hazel Street, across N.
Broadway Street (with a lookout for cars and horse drawn wagons), then a
sharp bounce over the railroad tracks and down onto the river.
Twin City Forge and Foundry
During the First World War, in 1917, a new building was constructed
on this N. Broadway and E. Hazel Street site to be used by Twin City Forge
& Foundry as a War Munitions plant. They manufactured artillery shells,
and it is said, employed 2,600 people during the War.
There is a story that, in order not to be penalized by the government
contract, the Foundry dumped those shells not made to the proper
specifications off a ramp into the river. If this story is true, somewhere on
the bottom of the river off Lakeside Drive, there are a number of old brass
WW I shells.96
Gilbert Manufacturing Company
In 1927, an association of local Stillwater residents purchased the
Twin City Forge & Foundry building on this site, and turned it over to the
Gilbert Manufacturing Company who was looking for a site closer to its
markets. Having begun in Aberdeen, South Dakota, Clarence Gilbert had a
large and successful business manufacturing road graders `backed up by over
thirty years of experience in building dirt moving equipment." Their new
home was a building a block long and half a block wide on 11 acres of
property.
95 Stillwater, My Hometown and Yours, Unit 48, American Legion Auxiliary, 1989. Chapter
21, Carli and Schulenburg's Addition —Third Ward Dutchtown, by Lillian and Louise Berg.
Page 79.
96 Jack Gilbert told me that in the Second World War, he made an attempt to retrieve these
shells.
79
Photograph courtesy of Jack Gilbert
This photograph, taken about 1920, is looking south from a point north of (today's) Wolf Marine.
In the left foreground is the old Boom Road along the river, the route north to Marine before 1936. In
the right foreground is Bannister's pasture; today it is the site of the intersection of Highways 95 and
96. The first east -west street in the near foreground is F. Alder Street; the street going south on the
right side of the photograph in N. Broadway. In the background is the factory of Twin City Forge and
Foundry. Very few of the structures pictured in this view of Dutchtown remain today.
O961-Z061 `WL.L 2u!
Photograph courtesy of Jack Gilbert
ill' 11 IIUUII�IIUj''
?jingo") li (kb,N" $fl r
!^Prr t G'
A photograph looking north on N. Broadway Street from just south of E. Poplar Street. In the
lower right is the store at 401'E. Poplar Street. The two houses on the east side of N. Broadway, in the
center left of the photograph, are 1807 and 1815 N. Broadway. In the background are the buildings of
the Gilbert Manufacturing Company (previously Twin City Forge and Foundry). This photograph was
probably taken from the hillside about 1928. Every structure in this photograph is gone today.
16I ZO6i am! uIu
The Waning Time, 1902-1960
Gilbert High Speed Truck Grader
This machine, the same as all others manufactured by the Gilbert Manufacturing Company, is in
the machine tool class of construction. We have entirely gotten away from the agricultural imple-
ment idea of building road machinery. They are very rigid as they have our friction lock circle,
which is guaranteed for the life of the machine never to become loose or develop play. The main
frame is built of I -beams. The cab is built integral to the machine — all hot riveted and welded — has
adjustable Timken bearings on each end of the lifting worms which
are enclosed in dust -proof and oil -tight casings. The worms and
gears are cut steel —ball joints and boxes are machine fit and adjust-
able. Timken bearings in the wheels. Machine is equipped with
our own wheels, with heat treated spokes. Wheels can be furnished
in several different styles. Hard rubber, pneumatic, flat steel or
flanged steel tires can be furnished, as well as disc .wheels equipped
with any of the tires mentioned. Machine is equipped
with Upholstered spring seat mounted on a .spring
footboard. making it very easy on
the operator. Is very
quick and easy to steer,
and is a high class job
throughout. Cabs can
also be glassed in.
• Mki'•.•4
Off/ • • MO.••
W00% I - 47- "0 • T
de
(0 isfP'
--,.. ,tatt.,,,,,..!,,. --;:„.
lib
t'rfrillal'Artg
..-7
Gilbert Patented Moldboard Reinforcement
. •-• •
o1dborcIisfeinforced with heavy Railroad Rails, 'or.te 12 lb. andAhe.,other _35:1b. These
length of he,th a e and are attached to the circle with heavy steel castings.:s we do- not
,
epend,;:oh;Aiiri..'for adjustmentit is possible with our outfit to shift thehlade,,.:thejtilL'1.4g-#1; to :either side.
'made ',--of':Iiikh:41-adO'.:,;i5jc,liki-ir-iteet :Moldboard is equipped
three point adjustment Standard length is 10 feet, but other lengts will be furnishedoun
ill t bend or buckle nder the most severe rod eondrttons
82
The Waning Time, 1902-1960
For a time business prospered, but the depression of 1929 struck the
Gilbert Company a disastrous blow. Orders for new equipment slowed, and
then stopped altogether. The factory survived on making repair parts, and
the rare order for a new grader. In 1935, they made their last grader. In
order to keep the business going, Clarence Gilbert turned to special order
heavy metal fabrication. They made some plowshares for the Farmers Union
Co-op; during the Second World War, they manufactured large generator
backplates and armature motor housings for Peerless Electric Machinery of
Minneapolis.
Also during the Second World War, Gilbert joined in a venture with
the Standard Salt and Cement Company of Duluth, manufacturing large
anchor chains for Liberty ships. These chains had links weighing 20 pounds,
and were made up of 140 links.
At the end of the Second World War, the Gilbert Plant was used as a
drop forge, and part of it leased to the Andersen Corporation of Bayport, and
a smaller portion of the plant was leased to Erickson -Post, a Stillwater Ford
Agency.97
On May 16, 1955, the Gilbert Plant burned in a spectacular blaze; the
worst fire in Stillwater in the previous 40 years. Andersen Corporation lost
38 carloads of window frames stored in the factory, and 14 new Ford and
Mercury cars were destroyed, along with 16 used cars. Total damage was
estimated at $300,000 to $375,000.
As the newspaper recorded the fire:
`2t is regarded as miraculous that some of the homes near
the plant did not catch fire from sparks and embers. There were
a few grass and brush fires started on the hillside west of the
plant. A sudden shift in the wind toward the east may have
saved some of the homes."8
Today, this industrial riverfront has become Lakeview Terrace, with
Lakeside Drive as the thoroughfare. It is an area of modern homes, with
carefully manicured lawns, giving no hint whatsoever of its industrial past.
97 Stillwater, My Hometown and Yours, Unit 48, American Legion Auxiliary, 1989. Gilbert
Manufacturing Company. Pages 122 & 123. Correspondence with Jack Gilbert, son of the
founder of the company.
98 Stillwater Gazette, May 17, 1955.
83
The Waning Time, 1902-1960
Lower Dutchtown
This industrial development was in an area called by residents, Lower
Dutchtown, according to a reminiscence published in 1989 by the Berg
sisters:
"The area to the north bordering the Stillwater Country
club was referred to as `Billy Goat Hill' because a family in that
area raised goats. That area is bordered by Poplar Street on the
south...The older generation still refer to the areas as lower
Dutchtown, Upper Dutchtown, and Billy Goat Hill." 99
This same book refers to the matter of transportation
after the turn of the century: `Before the days of cars all the
people walked to school, church, to town, and to work. They
walked on Main Street or Second Street. The Stillwater Country
Club and the area across the road which was called Atwood's
Field was a favorite route. A wooden sidewalk, the only one we
can remember, bordered Mr. Atwood's Field on North Second
Street. This was used by all the kids going to and from school
and those rushing to work in the morning. When Mr. Atwood
gave up farming, the walk was neglected and finally had to be
razed and destroyed. loo
For those people living in Lower Dutchtown along N. Broadway Street
and Schulenburg Alley, the route into town and the way to the Lincoln
School was along N. Main Street, then up the Laurel Street stairs just south
of the old Territorial Prison.
The Stillwater Country Club Golf Course
Part of the area today occupied by the golf course was property owned
by the Schulenburg and Boeckeler Lumber Company as part of their original
1853 Plat. When the Schulenburg and Boeckeler Mill went bankrupt in
1894, the property, Blocks 26, 27, 28, 29, 35, 36, 37, 38, (See Figure 2, page
17) went to Staples-Atlee, and subsequently, to the last owner of the Mill,
George Atwood. Atwood used the area for a time as a farm. The Berg sisters
describe it in their book:
99 Stillwater, My Hometown and Yours, Unit 48, American Legion Auxiliary, 1989. Chapter
21, Carli and Schulenburg's Addition —Third Ward Dutchtown, by Lillian and Louise Berg.
Page 79.
ioo Ibid
84
The Waning Time, 1902-1960
"He [George Atwood] had also placed two stiles, one on the
north, the other on the south, halfway through his west field.
Those of us living on top of the hills quickly made a path across
this field and used it as a speedy way to get to the Lincoln School
[on N. Third and School Streets] and to town away from the cars
on the highway, now #95. His field was a great place to fly kites.
In the ponds were many frogs that the boys caught when they
went fishing. 101
Photo Courtesy of the St. Croix Collection, Stillwater Public Library
tr>_irnIlitr Ix{4i11{islli{14�iltiiil{Ikf�}{#
•
Looking east from a point just west of N. Second Street and north of E. Sycamore Street. N.
Second Street is in the foreground; the Hospes mansion is in the right background. The large
white house slightly right of center was at 1414 N. First Street. N. First Street is between
these two houses. In the upper left, the St. Croix River can be seen.
In another reminiscence by Mabel Myhre, she also describes the route across
what is now the Stillwater Country Club golf course.
`...the numerous Dutchtown' women who often took this
short-cut trail through the field and over the stile when they
walked from Dutchtown' to Stillwater.
The little stile at the end of the patch was often a trysting
place for the younger generation of Dutchtown sweethearts. We
101 Ibid
85
The Waning Time, 1902-1960
often saw them walking hand -in -hand across the meadow after
meeting each other at the stile.
The field today is converted into a golf course, but during
my childhood it was used —a good share of the time —as a
grazing place for a large herd of cows and horses. It also made
an ideal nesting place for meadow larks, bob-o-links and red
winged black birds. For a couple of years, farmers raised flax on
it, and when it was in bloom, it looked for all the world like a
beautiful sea of blue. At one time the entire expanse consisted of
red clover. Today this rolling field or high plateau, with its
numerous ponds where once my brother and I flew our kites,
sailed our little toy boats and caught frogs among the tall
cattails, furnishes excellent natural traps for expert and amateur
golfers." 102
In 1913, Atwood sold the property to Edward Rumely, who in turn sold
it to Henry B. Vollmer on a Warranty Deed in April of 1914.103
In 1918, Morell & Nichols, Landscape Architects looked at "Atwoods
Field" in their Plan for Stillwater.
"The proposed small park surrounded by Fourth Street,
Juniper Street, Second Street, and Sycamore Street, [Blocks 26,
271 with the high knoll from which a rnost magnificent
panoramic view may be had of the river and valley for miles in
both directions, will be a very desirable addition to the park
system."
The Plan also proposed acquiring the old stone quarry on the east side
of North Broadway Street between E. Aspen and E. Sycamore Streets with
its stunning views of the river landscape, as well as property in Brown's
Creek Valley and Fairy Falls. Through Dutchtown, they proposed a parkway
going north on N. Broadway Street from Wilkin Street (along the old quarry),
west a block on St. Croix, north two blocks on N. First Street, east on E.
Juniper Street, north along the bluff, west on E. Spruce Street to N. Third,
and from there diagonally into Brown's Valley to head west and tie up with
McKusick Lake.lo4
102 The Dutchtown Trail by Mabel Myhre Sterling in Historical Whisperings, October 1980.
103 43 Deeds 514; There is a biography of Vollmer on Page 336 in History of the St. Croix
Valley, edited by Augustus B. Easton. Chicago, H.C. Cooper Jr. & Co., 1909.
1°4 Plan of Stillwater, prepared under the direction of The Park Board, 1918. Morell &
Nichols, Minneapolis, Minnesota, page 16-18.
86
The Waning Time, 1902-1960
Part of the map from: Plan of Stillwater. More11 & Nichols, Mpls, Mn. 1918
/
NO
A plan for Dutchtown in 1918. The shaded area in the lower left was a park proposed
at the old Quarry site, east of N. Broadway and north of Aspen Street. The shaded area
slightly left of center was a park proposed where the Stillwater Country Club golf
course is now. The dark wavy line was a proposed parkway. The through street at the
top of the map is N. Fourth Street.
Regrettably, Mayor Kolliner, and City Councilmen, H.D. Campbell, M. L.
Murphy, L. E. Torinus, and H. R. Woerz chose to take none of these options, and
today all these stunning locations are now in private hands, and off-limits to the
public. Are today's city leaders making more far-sighted decisions?
In 1924, Tom Varden, a golf professional at the White Bear Lake Yacht Club
toured Stillwater to look at four possible sites for a new golf course. After touring
the sites, Varden was firmly convinced. that "Atwood's Field" was the best possible
site. The committee in charge of finding a site for the new golf course approached
Henry Vollmer who was willing to sell the 80 acres for $8,000. After further
deliberation, the Stillwater Golf Company purchased the land in March of 1925 with
a $3,000 down payment, and the balance to be paid at the rate of $1,000 a year.105
Fun and Games
There were no entertainment palaces in Dutchtown and most of the
pleasures were simple ones.
i°5 For a complete history of the golf course, see Stillwater Country Club, 1924-1974; 50th
Anniversary. Prepared by Betty Roney. N.P., N. D.
87
The Waning Time, 1902-1960
"As we got older, we had house parties on Saturday
evening which we called `kitchen sweats." They really were
square dance parties with the accordion player and a caller.
Sometimes we had a fiddler. Refreshments were served by the
hostess. Generally it was cake and coffee, plus the beer. It was
good fellowship and an enjoyable time.
When anyone was married in the neighborhood, the young
people gathered in the early evening for a shivaree. They had
cow bells, a big circular saw which they pounded with a
hammer, shot off the guns, and whooped and hollered until the
bride and groom appeared with cake for the ladies, beer for the
men, and pennies for the children. The kids ran to the
neighborhood store on Broadway and spent their money on
'penny candies.", 106
Dutchtown in 1927
In order to give a sense of who was living in Dutchtown, and what
they did for a living, I went through the 1927 City Directory, page by page,
and picked out all the residents of Dutchtown. This information is in
Appendix C.
It is apparent that many of the men worked for Twin City Forge and
Foundry, a firm founded and owned by George H. Atwood, the previous
proprietor of the Atwood B Mill which provided employment for so many
Dutchtown residents. Lillian and Louise Berg discuss employment
opportunities in their book:
'Many men worked in the lumber camps or in the lumber
mills—Schulenberg and Boeckeler Mill, later called Atwoods
Mill, Thrasher Company, and the Drop Forge. Others worked at
the old prison, and then at the new prison, Connolly Shoe
Factory, Stillwater Manufacturing Company, Northern Pacific
railroad, at the Post office, and other places.
106 Stillwater, My Hometown and Yours, Unit 48, American Legion Auxiliary, 1989. Chapter
21, Carli and Schulenburg's Addition —Third Ward Dutchtown, by Lillian and Louise Berg.
Page 82.
88
The Waning Time, 1902-1960
Courtesy of Don Teske
From L-R: Dorothy Warner, Leora
Teske, Helen Balfanz, c. 1920
The young girls worked at
Starkel's Bakery, Kolliner's Shirt
Factory, Welsh's Laundry,
Murphy's Department Store,
Simonet's Carpet and Furniture,
Erickson's Furniture, and
Peterson's Meat Market. The
mothers stayed at home and
worked and worked. They really
worked the longest hours, and had
very hard work —washing,
ironing, cooking, taking care of
children, and sewing. They kept
the fires burning morning, noon,
and night. "107
Dutchtown homes underlined in
Appendix C, are gone. Of the 83 homes
listed in 1927, 39 houses, or a remarkable
47% of them, no longer exist. If we go back to our 1894 listing (Appendix A),
we find that of the 111 houses that existed at the peak of Dutchtown, 71 of
them are no longer there. To this equation, we must add the few houses that
were built in the late 1890's.
So we can say, with considerable accuracy, that 71
houses, or 62% of the 115 houses in Dutchtown at the turn of
the century no longer exist today.
To further compound this dismaying statistic, we have to add the fact
that the whole business district for Dutchtown that once existed along N.
Main Street has completely disappeared without a trace, and that the two or
three large manufacturing establishments have likewise disappeared. The
small businesses: the pop factory, brewery, neighborhood grocery stores are
also gone. What does remain, however, are several of the small working
class houses that are typical of the history of Dutchtown.
Typical of the fate of several Dutchtown houses are the circumstances
surrounding a fire on May 11,1917 in which the house and barn of John
Lembke at 2024 N. Lake Street suffered damage of $450, and the adjacent
house of G. Pretzel, 2021 N. Lake Street suffered $322. There is no account
107 Ibid
89
The Waning Time, 1902-1960
Photograph courtesy of George Kahl
A gathering in front of the Nothnagle home at 305 E. Alder Street.
L-R in the back row: Henry Nothnagel, Duffy Neske, Otto Klammen
Pat Millarch, Charlie Seekel. L-R in the front row: Henry Kahl,
Herman Neske, AI Frazier and Bud Frazier.
of the fire —a long way from the fire department —but it provoked a stern
warning from the Fire Department chief:
"'Automobile drivers who rush to fires and who cross
ahead of the fire department the way one or two did Friday
night, are liable to get into trouble' said First Assistant Chief
Simon Andrews this morning. 'On the way to the fires in
Schulenberg's Addition Friday night, one big machine, which
was on the wrong side of the street, cut across in front of the lead
team of the department and on account of the dust that the auto
kicked up delayed the arrival of the firemen several minutes.
Not content with this, however, the same driver ran over a
section of hose that had been laid, in order that the occupants of
the machine could get a better look at the fire, but he also backed
over the hose injuring several feet that will not be of much
further use to the department.
Drivers that do not know any more about laws than this
one are liable to heavy fines, and the next one that is so reckless
will be taught a lesson that he will not forget shortly."108
108 Stillwater Daily Gazette, March 12, 1917.
90
The Waning Time, 1902-1960
The Roadway is Widened
In 1935, the Department of Highways purchased and tore down the old
Knipps Brewery building at 1704 N. Main Street as well as the buildings at
1710 and 1718 N. Main Street. They also took 1815 N. Broadway, 1820 N.
Broadway, 1902 N. Broadway, and 2015 N. Broadway Street. In taking these
buildings, they eliminated "Pete's Corner" (N. Main and E. Poplar Streets) so
named for Peter Newhouse who was running the Wayside Tavern and a bait
shop at the old Knips Brewery building. Newhouse sold minnows from
concrete tubs on the east side of the railroad tracks; tubs that were furnished
with water from the springs there. An entrepreneur of sorts, Newhouse also
raised chickens in the old Brewery caves.109
When the road out of town was widened the following year, it also
changed its course heading north out of Dutchtown. Previously, the route
north from downtown Stillwater took the traveler north on N. Main Street to
E. Poplar Street, west one block on E. Poplar to N. Broadway Street, north on
N. Broadway Street to E. Alder Street, then east two blocks on E. Alder
Street to the Boom Road which then headed north along the river through
what is today Wolfs Marina. This configuration of road left the creek bed of
Brown's Creek largely undisturbed. But after 1936, the new highway north
to Marine continued north on a line with N. Broadway Street to intersect
with Highway 96 in what had once been a beautiful valley.
New Houses and Old Perceptions
Between 1909 and 1947, there were only three houses built in the
whole area of Dutchtown. In 1938, Frederick Kalinoff, a Stillwater dentist,
purchased a block of land from Mrs. George Atwood, and, attracted by the
view of the river, had a large house built on the crest of the hill at 1421 N.
First Street. The builder was Lawrence Linner, a Stillwater contractor. no
In 1939, Roy Graff took out a permit to construct the shell of a house at 308
E. Poplar Street, and, in 1941, Mrs. George Atwood (widow) took out a
permit to built an $8,000-$10,000 brick veneer house on Lot 3, Block 33, a
home that remains today at No. 5, Rivercrest Drive." It is said that the
bricks used in the house came from the site of Atwood's Twin City Forge and
Foundry building on North Main Street near where the Schulenburg &
Boeckeler Mill had once stood.
1°9 Conversation with Donald Teske
11° Conversation with his son, David Linner
111 Stillwater Building Permit Application #2711
91
The Waning Time, 1902-1960
Photograph Courtesy of Louise Berg
This is a photograph of Browns Creek Valley looking northwest from
approximately the intersection of E. Alder and N. Broadway Streets. It was taken
before the construction of Highway 96, and its interchange with Highway 95. At
the time of this photograph, the road north to Marine curved east at E. Alder
Street and wound north through what is today, Wolf Marine, on the old Boom
Road.
Known as Bannister's pasture, the valley was rented as pasture land for
cows in the adjoining neighborhoods. The Berg sisters wrote:
"There was a time when Mrs. Bannister who lived on Pest
House Hill [Fairy Falls Road] had a pasture along Browns Creek and
Picnic Hill. The children of the family would take the cows to the
pasture. The gate was a little south of where Highway 96 enters
Highway 95 (on Alder Street). When Mr. Bannister collected the money
for the rent of the pasture, he would come to the door, knock and
always say, "Another month has gone by." The rent was a $1 a month.
Most families with a cow sold their surplus milk to their neighbors for
5 cents a quart."
Off to the right side of the photograph is Picnic Hill where, in the 1880's,
people came to picnic and enjoy Fairy Falls. After the turn of the century, there
were motorcycle races to the top of the hill, and Dutchtown residents remember
the occasional motorcycle tipping backwards near the summit. For a time in the
early 1930's, the Stillwater National Guard would march into the valley, and use
the hills as a backdrop to target practice.
92
The Waning Time, 1902-1960
During much of this period, it seems to be the consensus that
Dutchtown was not considered one of the more desirable places in Stillwater
to live. One life-long resident of Dutchtown said it was a common perception
that "you don't want to go to Dutchtown or Oak Park after dark," although he
was quick to add that he felt the perception unjustified. Another Stillwater
resident who did not live in Dutchtown called it "a slum" during this period;
it is, he said, "much improved today." But whatever the outsider's perception
of this neighborhood, most of those who actually lived there agree it was a
close-knit, interrelated neighborhood comprised of poor and working people —
perhaps much like an inner-city neighborhood today. And while many inner-
city neighborhoods may look "tough" and run-down, they often have a
vitality, a diversity, and a sense of connection lacking in the more affluent
and sterile neighborhoods.
93
94
THE METAMORPHOSIS, 1950-PRESENT
In 1950, the population of Stillwater was 7,674 and on its way up. The
prosperity of the following years brought about a building boom in Stillwater.
Developers, keenly aware that the St. Croix River was becoming more and
more of an attraction, particularly to those from the Minneapolis -St. Paul
metropolitan area, began to look closely at sites affording a river view —or
proximity to the river. One of the most dramatic vistas was from the bluff
top along N. First Street, an observation made 100 years earlier by Louis
Hospes who built his mansion there. This area, which was dubbed "South
Dutchtown" by one resident, has also been known as "Pill Hill," for the
number of doctors living there.
The first person to take advantage of this river bluff site was a
Stillwater dentist, Frederick Kalinoff, who purchased a block of land from
Mrs. George Atwater in 1939, and contracted with Lawrence Linner to build
him a substantial house overlooking the river at 1421 N. First Street. Dr.
Kalinoff raised chickens on his property. Their chicken house was dubbed
the "Riverview" chicken coop which is said to be the inspiration for the street
of the same name.112 The second house in the area was built by Mrs. George
Atwood in 1941, also with a commanding river view, at No. 5 Rivercrest
Lane.
In the early 1950's, Lawrence Linner, and his son, David, built three
houses in the area, including the home at 1503 N. First Street where David
now lives. Wally Handevidt, a developer, also constructed several houses in
this area. In 1958, Registered Land Survey #3 was platted in Block 33, and a
much larger Registered Land Survey #7 was platted in parts of Blocks 25, 31,
32, 33, 34, 39 and 40 of Carli and Schulenburg's Addition. In naming the
streets, the developers left little doubt about the attraction of their property:
River Heights Drive, Riverview Drive, Ridgelane Drive and Rivercrest Lane.
Two years later, St. Croix Heights was platted on Block 24.
Down below in "Lower Dutchtown," five years later in 1965, on Blocks
41, 50 and 51, Lakeview Terrace was platted with Lakeside Drive as the
thoroughfare. A site that had been industrial for over a 50 years now became
a manicured suburban street with its modern houses and private marina.
Herbert Balfanz, a contractor, who grew up at 1722 N. Broadway Street built
a number of buildings throughout Stillwater. Among them were the
112 Conversation with Dr. Frederick Kalinoff, Jr.
95
The Metamorphosis, 1950-Present
remodeling of his family home, and new houses at 1710 N. Broadway and 305
E. Poplar Street.113
Along with the new residentialdevelopment fostered by the St. Croix
River, there also came three new river -based businesses to Dutchtown. Wolf
Marine, established in 1.960; the Rumpf "Dutch Harbor" Marina, and
Maritronics at 2103 Schulenburg Alley.
Wolf Marine
In the late 1950's, Helen and Walter Wolf were the proprietors of a
successful automobile business in Stillwater located on the northeast corner
of Osgood Avenue and Highway 36. They did automobile repair and sold new
Buicks and Studebakers. But when Highway 36 was widened from two lanes
to four lanes, the Wo]fs had to relinquish their business.
Looking around for another business, Walter became interested in
running a marina. He liked boats; he liked to fish; and, at the time, he
envisioned a leisurely, small, seasonal business providing dockage for a few
houseboats. After a study of the riverfront, and the two other marinas
already existing: Rumpfs "Dutch Harbor" and Sunnyside, he picked a spot
where Brown's Creek emptied into the St. Croix —on the location of the old
Boom Road. By purchasing some land from Bannister, acquiring some
vacated land, and buying two old houses near the site, he accumulated
enough land to begin his marina.
However, the site was less than ideal. Most of the area off the shore
was a thicket of willow trees in shallow water; it would be necessary to
dredge out a bay of sufficient depth to allow boats up to the shore. During
the long and laborious process of dredging, Helen Wolf recalls that a number
of old lumberman boots, peavey's, and piles of lumber slabs were pulled from
the river bottom.
Opening in 1960, the Marina is today a bustling business now in the
hands of Walter's and Helen's grandchildren, a third generation business."."
113 Conversation with Herbert Balfanz
114 Interview with Helen Wolf
96
The Metamorphosis, 1.950-Present
Maritronics
Maritronics, at 2103 Schulenburg Alley, is the business of Deb
DeSteno and Dan Challeen who started it in 1988. They service and sell all
Marine electronic equipment, including depth meters, Marine radios, and
GPS units, covering an area from north of Stillwater south to Wabasha,
Minnesota. In the winter, they repair VCR's and do general audio -video
electronics repai.r.n5
Street Realignment
In 1987, MnDot concluded that the turn east on E. Alder Street from
N. Broadway Street was too hazardous, and they made plans, using right-of-
way land acquired years before, to move the access to Wolf Marine further
north. Their original plan was to run the road due east, taking the house at
2103 Schulenburg Alley. However, Deborah DeSteno and Dan Challeen
made an impassioned plea to reroute the street several feet south of the
house at 2103 Schulenburg Alley which they had just agreed to purchase. As
a result of their effort, the current access to Wolf Marine begins north of E.
Alder Street, but soon curves to the south, following the original course of E.
Alder Street.
A River View
The newer houses in the area south of E. Poplar Street were spared
the cookie cutter development that marks other suburban areas like
Croixwood. Here most of the houses were custom built, and there is some
variety in the landscape and layout of the streets. Today the area is
inhabited by a few families who have lived here for decades. Linner,
Kraemer, Coleman, come to mind.
In this area south of E. Poplar Street, there are very few remnants of
the past. One of the few, which should be preserved, are the limestone curbs
on Second Street north of River Crest Lane.
Today, the desire for a river view and proximity to the river is driving
the demand for property in old Dutchtown, and we have already seen the
building of new houses which are totally out of context with the residential
nature and character of the old part of Dutchtown.
115 Interview with Deb DeSteno
97
The Metamorphosis, 1950-Present
Presently the old part of Dutchtown is undergoing a metamorphosis.
With its precipitous hills and river views, with its inexpensive lots and old
houses, realtors and developers are purchasing the houses to demolish them,
and in their place build new expensive suburban homes. As more of these
lavish homes are built, their owners will demand city sewer and water and,
eventually the costs of the assessments may well force the sale of any of the
old houses remaining.
This is unfortunate, because Dutchtown is a unique place —an example
of a lumber mill town during the period when lumber built the St. Croix
Valley and indeed, fueled much of the growth in eastern Minnesota. Today
there are enough vestiges of Dutchtown remaining to glimpse the flavor and
color of the original village. Tomorrow it may well be nothing more
picturesque and significant than another expensive suburban enclave.
.•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•, .•..•..•.••..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•..•.
........................................
98
Appendix A
APPENDIX A
There was, in the early 1890's, a remarkable convergence of sources for the
documentation of the homes and their occupants in Dutchtown. In December of
1892, Lewis W. Clarke, a surveyor and civil engineer, drew a very detailed and
accurate map of the Dutchtown area, showing every house, outbuilding, fence, well,
lot line, and street boundary. This remarkable color -coded plat map, which is
approximately three feet by four feet, is in the St. Croix Collection at the Stillwater
Public Library.
Also in the early 1890's, R. L. Polk & Company began publishing a fairly high
quality City Directory for the city of Stillwater. This Directory listed all the adult
male residents of the city in alphabetical order, along with their address and
occupation. I went page by page through the 1894 City Directory and collected all
those persons and their addresses who were listed as living in Dutchtown. This
Directory was particularly useful because many of the homes in Dutchtown were
owned by the Schulenburg and Boeckeler Lumber Co. and this Directory listed the
residents rather than the property owners.
To these two sources, I added the information contained in the 1892 Tax
Assessor's records for the Dutchtown area. These records list the legal
description of the property, the owner of the property, and the assessed (market)
value.
The assessed values are given in the list. That value is a combination of the
property and the lot. Obviously two lots of the same size might vary in assessed
value depending on the size of the house, and by the same token, two houses might
be the same size on different size lots, and the assessed value would therefore be
different. The value of lots throughout Dutchtown was not constant, and in some
cases, the same size lot in different locations would have different assessed values.
For example, a high lot on First Street would be worth more than a lot on
Schulenburg Alley which might be subject to flooding. It is therefore almost
impossible to make precise speculations about what was the size or value of a house
on any given lot, but I believe it is possible to get a general idea of what value
structure may have existed on a given lot.
For example, the modest two story house which remains at 1924 N. First
Street with one outbuilding, and a full. 100x150 foot lot had an assessed value in
1892 of $558.00. By comparison, the house at 2001 Schulenburg Alley which was
one-story, 22x12 feet with a 9x12 addition, (372 s/f, probably no basement) and the
house at 2007 Schulenburg Alley which was one-story, 24x12 feet with a 6x9
addition, (342 s/f, probably no basement) plus the 100x150 foot lot on which they
both stood, was given a total assessed value of $305. From the use of these values,
99
Appendix A
it soon becomes apparent that most of the homes in Dutchtown were relatively
small inexpensive homes. When compared with the assessed value of houses in
other Stillwater neighborhoods at the time, this conclusion is reinforced.
The compilation and distillation of these three sources of
information, the color -coded plat map, the 1894 City Directory, and the
1892 Tax Assessor's records, is to be found in the following list which is, in
itself, a remarkable snapshot of Dutchtown in the early 1890's when the
community was at its zenith.
Bold denotes a house belonging to Schulenburg & Boeckeler Lumber Company
Underlined denotes a house that was no longer there in 1927.
(R) indicates a primary resident of the house. (B) indicates a Boarder, often an adult child.
Alder E. 305 Gustaf Nothnagel, watchman, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 54, Lot 6 Assessed value of lot and house was $204.00.
Alder E. 310 Josephine Pospeshenske (widow Edward) (R)
Stanislaus Pospeshenske, rafter, (B)
Unplatted north 28 acres of Government Lot 2. Unable to determine value for one house.
Alder E. 312 Frederick Goph, laborer, (R)
Frederick Yope, laborer (R)
Unplatted north 28 acres of Government Lot 2. Unable to determine value for one house.
Alder E. 428 Charles Seikel boomman, (B) in rear
Emil Seikel, boomman, (B) rear
Julius Seikel, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R) rear
Elizabeth Drager (widow Martin) (B)
Godfried Seaman, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Unplatted north 28 acres of Government Lot 2. Unable to determine value for one house.
Broadway 1722 John Glade, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 40, Lot 1. Assessed value of lot and house was $658.00
Broadway 1802/1803 William Just, oiler, (R)
Block 42, Lot 3. Assessed value of lot and house (with 1806 Broadway) was $810.00
Broadway 1806 Christopher Diethert, eng, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 42, Lot 3. Assessed value of lot and house (with 1802 Broadway) was $810.00
100
Appendix A
Broadway 1807 Anna Schutt (widow Henry) (R)
Block 41, Lot 3. Assessed value of lot and house was $353.00
Broadway 1808 Edward Teske, boomman, (B) (Same as 1806 Broadway)
Emil Teske, boomman, (B)
Julius Teske, laborer, (R)
Block 42, Lot 2. Not shown on 1892 Map.
Broadway 1810 John Kolander, laborer, (R)
Block 42, Lot 2. Not shown on 1892 Map.
Broadway 1812 August Senkbeil, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (B)
Andreas Senkbeil, laborer, (R)
Augusta Senkbeil (widow Andreas) (R)
John Senkbeil, laborer (B)
Block 42, Lot 2. Assessed value of lot and house was $305.00
Broadway 1815 John Seeman, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 41, Lot 2. Assessed value of lot and house was $105.00.
Broadway 1820 Frederick Drager, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Amelia Drager, dressmaker (B)
Charles Drager, boomman, (B)
Block 42, Lot 1. Assessed value of lot and house was $510.00.
Broadway 1902. Owned by estate of Christopher Drawer. No resident listed.
Block 49, Lot 3. Assessed value of lot and houses (with 320 Willow) was $608.00.
Broadway 1912. Owned by Gates A. Johnson. No resident listed.
Block 49, Lot 2. Assessed value of lot and house was $458.00.
Broadway 1914 Gustave Seggelke, laborer, St. P & D RR (R)
John E. Pringle, molder, (R)
Block 49, Lot 1 W. of RR tracks. Assessed value of lot and house was $153.00.
Broadway 1921 August Lambrecht, Schulenburg & Boeckeler, (B)
Frederick Hinz, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler
Block 50, Lot 6. Assessed value of lot and house was $358.00.
Broadway 1924 Doretta Rengstorff (widow John D) (B) (I believe this same as 1920 N. Broadway)
George Rengstorff, carpenter, (R)
Block 49, Lot 1 E. of RR tracks. Assessed value of lot and house was $153.00.
Broadway 2007 Herman Lange, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 53, Lot 4. Assessed value of lot and houses (with 410 E. Hazel) was $358.00.
Broadway 2015 John Bloomquist, laborer (R)
Conrad Plaetcher, laborer, (R)
Ernest Reutimann, harnessmaker, (B)
Jacob Reutimann, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 53, Lot 5. Assessed value of lot and houses (with 2010 Schulenburg Alley) was
$405.00.
101
Appendix A
Broadway 2016 Adolph Isermann, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 54, Lot 2. Assessed value of lot and house was $358.00.
Broadway 2017 Joseph Lustig, rafter, (R)
Block 53, Lot 6. Assessed value of lot and house (with 2021 Broadway) was $455.00
Broadway 2018 Peter Sorenson, blacksmith J. Connors, (R)
William Scott, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 54, Lot 1. Assessed value of lot and house (with 2022 Broadway) was $1105.
Broadway 2021 William Neske, laborer, (R)
Block 53, Lot 6. Assessed value of lot and house (with 2017 Broadway) was $455.00.
Broadway 2022 Rudolph Reutimann, boomman, (B)
Adolph Reutimann, boomman, (B)
Walter Deggeller (R)
Block 54, Lot 1. Assessed value of lot and house (with 2018 Broadway) was $1105.00.
Broadway n.w. cor Willow Lena Berschens (widow Nicholas) (R)
There does not seem to be any house on the map that would match this description.
Broadway nr. city limits Gustav Kunkel (R)
There does not seem to be any house on the map that would match this description.
First N. 1404 Nicholas Collins, millwright, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R) (Same as 1406)
Block 25. The map does not cover this area.
First N. 1414 Ole Anderson, driver, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Mary Hanson (widow Hans) (B)
Block 25. The map does not cover this area.
First N. 1818 William Wagner, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 43, S.1/2 Lot 1. Assessed value of lot and house was $226.00.
First N. 1824 Adolph Sealaff, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Herman Goph, laborer, (R)
Herman Yope, laborer (R)
Block 43, NV2 Lot 1. Assessed value of .lot and house (with 219 E. Willow) was $126.00.
First N. 1908 Henrietta Janitz (widow August) (R)
William Janitz, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 48, NV2 Lot 3. Assessed value of lot and house was $153.00.
(The present house was constructed in 1893, after the map was drawn.)
First N. 1909 Adolph Wirth, boomman, (B)
Edward Wirth, Jr. laborer, (B)
Edward Wirth, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 49, Lot 5. Assessed value of lot and house (with 1911 N. First) was $129.00.
First 1911 Martin Radunz, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 49, Lot 5. Assessed value of lot and house (with 1909 N. First) was $129.00.
102
Appendix A
First 1912 Charles Roepke laborer, (R)
Block 48, S1/2 Lot 2. Assessed value of lot and house was $152.00.
First 1914 Albert Binker, scaler, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (B)
Sophia Binker (widow John) (R)
John Binker, bartender, 302 N. Main (B)
Block 48, N1/2 Lot 2. Assessed value of lot and house was $153.00.
First N. 1917 Herman Lietzow, laborer, (R)
Block 49, SY2 Lot 6. Assessed value of lot and house was $253.00.
First N. 1924 Augusta Berg (widow John) (R)
Reinhart Berg, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (B)
Herman Berg, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (B)
Block 48, Lot 1. Assessed value of lot and house was $558.00.
First N. 1930 August C. Ponath, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Carl Ponath, laborer, (B)
Although not numbered on the map, I believe this is the dwelling at Block 55, Lot 2.
Assessed value of lot and house was $26.00!
First N. 1931 Herman Kluttke, oiler, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R) (Should be 2018)
Block 54, Lot 5. Assessed value of lot and house was $128.00.
Fourth N. 1410 Charles E. Ponath, laborer, Florence Mill Co. (R)
The map does not cover this area.
Fourth N. 1420 Charles Dockendorff, boomman (B)
Hiram W. Dockendorff, teamster, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
The map does not cover this area.
Fourth N. nr. city limits Christopher Schwenke, laborer, (R)
The map does not cover this area.
Fourth N. nr. city limits Charles Rueckert, laborer, (R)
The map does not cover this area.
Fourth N. nr. city limits Ferdinand Hiller, laborer (R)
The map does not cover this area.
Fourth N. nr. city limits Mrs. Malvina Wittich (R)
The map does not cover this area.
Fourth N. nr. city limits Stephen Krenke, laborer, (B)
Hazel W. 101 Emil Teenge, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 46, Lot 1. Assessed value of lot and house was $157.00.
Hazel W. 106 Michael Schumacher, Jr. laborer, (B)
Michael Schumacher, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 57, Lot 3. Assessed value of lot and house was $259.00.
103
Appendix A
Hazel E. 110 William Reier, laborer, (B)
John Reier, foreman, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Paul Reier, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (B)
Block 56, Lot 4. Assessed value of lot and house was $280.00.
Hazel E. 122 Charles Glaser, laborer, East Side Lbr. C. (B)
Emil Glaser, laborer, (B)
Christopher Glaser, eng, Florence Mill Co. (R)
Block 56, Lot 3. Assessed value of lot and house was $380.00.
Hazel E. 209 Annie Garth (widow John) (B)
John Utecht, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 48, Lot 6. Assessed value of lot and house (with 1917 N. Second) was $$381.00.
Hazel E. 222 Martin Manthey, laborer, (R)
Martin Monti (R)
Block 55, Lot 3. Assessed value of lot and house was $579.00.
Hazel E. 302 Charles Berg, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 54, Lot 4 (part). There were four owners of this lot, plus the RR.
Hazel E. 304 August F. Isermann, laborer, (B)
August F. W. Isermann, carpenter, (R)
William Isermann, laborer, (B)
Block 54, Lot 4 (part). There were four owners of this lot, plus the RR.
Hazel E. 312 Andreas Mielke, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 54, Lot 4 (part). There were four owners of this lot, plus the RR.
Hazel E. 324 Theodore Schuelling, bottler, Wm. Schuelling (B)
Anton Schuelling, bottler Wm. Schuelling, (B)
William Schuelling, Pop Mnfr, res same
Block 54, Lot 3. Assessed value of lot and house was $658.00.
Hazel E. 410 Henry Rump, laborer, (R)
Agnes Rump, domestic (B)
Block 53, Lot 4. Assessed value of lot and house (with 2007 Broadway) was $305.00.
Hazel E. 502 August S. Hintz, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 52, Lot 3. Assessed value of lot and house (along with 2009 N. Lake)was $105.00
Lake N. 2002 Carl Radunz, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Herman Klawitter, sawyer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
This house is not the map, but there is another house, 1908 N. Lake which is on
Block 51, Lot 2. Assessed value of lot and house was $205.00.
Lake N. 2009 August Kuenkel, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 52, Lot 3. Assessed value of lot and house (with 502 E. Hazel) was $105.00.
Lake N. 2015 August Nitz, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 52, Lot 2. Assessed value of lot and house was $96.00.
104
Appendix A
Lake N. 2021 Gustav Pretzel, stonecutter P.N. Peterson, (B)
Gotfried Pretzel, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Julius Pretzel, boomman, (B)
Block 52, Lot 1. Assessed value of lot and house (with 2024 N. Lake) was $429.00.
Lake N. 2024 John Lembke, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R) (Same as 2023 N. Lake)
Block 52, Lot 1. Assessed value of lot and house (with 2021 N. Lake) was $429.00.
Main N. 1412-1414 Schulenburg & Boeckeler Lumber Co.
This was the company store and office.
Main N. 1506 Frederick S. Rosche, trimmer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (B)
Charles Youngquist, blacksmith, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (B)
Christopher Jesse, laborer, (B)
Herman G. Kluttke, setter, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (B)
The map did not cover this area. This was the Mill Boarding House.
Main N. 1524 Richard Kirschner, millwright, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
The map did not cover this area. This was a dwelling.
Main N. 1704 Bruno E. Pospeshenske, setter, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Edward Lecuyer, boomman, (R)
Frank Klein (B)
Frank Klein Jr., laborer, (B)
George McCormick, laborer, (R)
Joseph Klein, teamster, (B)
Nathan Revorcl, boomman, (R)
This was the old Knipps Brewery building now used as a Boarding House.
Main N. 1710 Frank Mitchell, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
This was commercial property with a dwelling on it.
Main N. 1.716 Elias Mitchell, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
This was commercial property with a dwelling on it.
Main N. 1720 Abraham Knutson, clk J. P. Hanson, (B)
Hans Jensen (no occ) (B)
James P. Hanson, grocer, store & residence
This was a grocery store.
Poplar E. 309 Herman Meister, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 40, Lot 6. Assessed value of lot and house was $53.00.
Poplar E. 310 Adolph Siede, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Andreas Hinz, (b)
Louis Hinz, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 42, Lot 4. Assessed value of lot and house (with 1808 First) was $455.00.
Schulenburg Alley 2001 Ferdinand Rentzloff, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 53, Lot 3. Assessed value of lot and house (with 2007 Schulenburg Alley) was $305.00
105
Appendix A
Schulenburg Alley 2007 John Schraeder, tailor F.C. Cutler, (R)
Block 53, Lot 3. Assessed value of lot and house (with 2001 Schulenburg Alley) was $305.00.
Schulenburg Alley 2011 August Ulrich, laborer, (B)
Michael Ulrich, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 53, Lot 2. Assessed value of lot and house (with 2017 Schulenburg Alley) was $255.00.
Schulenburg Alley 2012 Dora Radloff (widow William) (B) (Same as 2010)
Louis Kuehn, teamster, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 53, Lot 5. Assessed value of lot and house (with 2015 Broadway) was $405.00.
Schulenburg Alley 2017 Herman Balfanz, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Frederick Thiel, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (B)
Julius Thiel, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 53, Lot 2. Assessed value of lot and house (with 2011 Schulenburg Alley) was $255.00.
Schulenburg Alley 2021 Wm. Balfanz, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 53, Lot 1. Assessed value of lot and house (with 2023 Schulenburg Alley) was $705.00.
Schulenburg Alley 2023 William Steinkamp, fireman, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
William Steinkamp, Jr. (B)
Block 53, Lot 1. Assessed value of lot and house (with 2021 Schulenburg Alley) was $705.00.
Schulenburg Alley 2103 Gotlieb Banderloff, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Unplatted north 28 acres of Government Lot 2. Unable to determine value for one house.
Schulenburg Alley 2105 William Radloff, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R) (Same as 2107)
Unplatted north 28 acres of Government Lot 2. Unable to determine value for one house.
Second N. 1816 Albert Kolbe, laborer, (R) (Same as 1813)
Caroline Kolbe (widow Albert) (B)
Block 43, Lot 5. Assessed value of lot and house was $303.00.
Second N. 1817 Frederick Hiller, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
John Kalke, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 43, Lot 6. Assessed value of lot and house (with 1820 Second & 207 Willow) was
$106.00.
Second N. 1820 Michael Kolander, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 43, Lot 6. Assessed value of lot and house (with 1817 Second & 207 Willow) was
$106.00.
Second N. 1.905 Jacob J. Rohner, laborer. Minn Thresher Mnfg. Co. (R)
Jacob Rohner, laborer, (B)
William F. Rohner, (B)
Frederick Kubli (B)
Fritz Rohner, harnessmaker, (B)
Block 48, NY2 Lot 4. Assessed value of lot and house was $479.00.
Second N. 1911 Frederick Roepke, laborer, (R)
Block 48, S1/2 Lot 5. Assessed value of lot and house was $153.00.
106
Appendix A
Second N. 1913 Carl Volzman, laborer, (R)
William Voeltzmann, laborer (R)
Block 48, N'/2 Lot 5. Assessed value of lot and house (with 1915 Second) was $76.00!
Second N. 1915 Edward Ponath, rafter, (R)
Michael Geskie (no occ) (B)
Block 48, N%2 Lot 5. Assessed value of lot and house (with 1913 Second) was $76.001
Second N. 1917 Henry Balfanz, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 48, Lot 6. Assessed value of lot and house (with 209 Hazel) was $381.00.
Second N. 2006 Gustaf Ferchow, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 56, Lot 3. Assessed value of lot and house (with 122 Hazel) was $380.00
Second N. 2012 Ferdinand Klamann, trimmer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Frank Klamann, rafter, (B)
Frank Mourner, laborer, E. Side Lbr Co. (B)
Rudolph Klamann, boomman, (B)
Block 56, Lot 2. Assessed value of lot and house (with 2016 Second) was $255.00.
Second N. 2016 Albert Neuman, rafter, (B)
Otto Neumann, laborer, (B)
Rose Neumann (widow Frederick) (R)
Block 56, Lot 2. Assessed value of lot and house (with 2012 Second) was $255.00.
Second N. 2018 Albertina Hoppe (widow Arnold) (R)
Block 56, Lot 1. Assessed value of lot and house was $117.00.
Second n.w.corner Willow Schulenburg School
Third N. 2007 William Radunz, (B)
Block 56, Lot 5. Assessed value of lot and house (with 110 Hazel) $280.00.
Third N. 2008 John Wirth, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Martha Wirth, dressmaker A.C. Schuttinger (B)
Block 57, Lot 3. Assessed value of lot and house was $259.00.
Third N. 2009 Amelia Buttke, milliner (B)
August Buttke, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 56, Lot 5. Assessed value of lot and house (with 2013 Third) was $430.00
Third N. 2012 Emil Roepke, setter, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (B)
Gotlieb Kress, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R.)
Block 57, Lot 2. Assessed value of lot and house was $242.00.
Third N. 2013 Herman Mellarch, laborer, (R)
Herman Millucke, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 56, Lot 5. Assessed value of lot and house (with 2009 Third) was $430.00
Willow E. 119 John Plumbaum, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 44, W 94' Lot 1. Assessed value of lot and house was $226.00.
107
Appendix A
Willow E. 123 Jacob Zass (R) (Same as 125)
Block 44, E 56' Lot 1. Assessed value of lot and house was $226.00.
Willow E. 207 Carl Dahlke, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 43, Lot 6. Assessed value of lot and house (with 1817 & 1820 First) was $106.00.
Willow E. 212 Wm. Berg, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Block 48, S% Lot 4. Assessed value of lot and house was $53.00.
Willow E. 224 Caroline Bremmer (widow Henry) (B)
Block 48, S1/2 Lot 3. Assessed value of lot and house was $153.00
Willow E. 301 August Teenge, foreman, S Union D & Trans. Co (R)
Block 42, Lot 6. Assessed value of lot and house (with 307 & 309 Willow) was $653.00.
Willow E. 307 William Korn, rafter, (B)
Adolph Korn, rafter, (R)
Paulina Korn (widow August) (B)
Block 42, Lot 6. Assessed value of lot and house (with 301 & 309 Willow) was $653.00.
Willow E. 309 John Ponath, laborer, Schulenburg & Boeckeler (R)
Mrs. Augusta Ponath, (B)
Block 42, Lot 6. Assessed value of lot and house (with 301 & 307 Willow) was $653.00.
Willow E. 310 Edward Kelly, collector, Pontoon Bridge (B)
James Kelly (no occ) (R)
John Kelly, laborer, (B)
Joseph Kelly, laborer (B)
Block 49, Lot 4. Assessed value of lot and house was $658.00.
Willow E. 318 John Seeman (R)
This house does not appear on the map.
Willow E. 320 Alphonse Cosino, rafter (R)
Block 49, Lot 3. Assessed value of lot and house (with 1902 Broadway) was $608.00
Detailed history and information on individual houses still extant can be found in
a companion volume entitled: Dutchtown Residential Area: Inventory Sheets. This volume
should be available at the Community Development Office, City of Stillwater, or The
Stillwater Public Library, or by sending a SASE to the author at P.O. Box 791, Stillwater,
MN 55082. Please specify which house you are seeking information on.
108
APPENDIX B
In August of 1902, George Atwood, current owner of the old
Schulenburg and Boeckeler Mill and all its property, sold off the lots in
Dutchtown to the people who had been living there for decades. The
following is a list of those transactions, the legal description of the property,
the citation to the deed in the Register of Deeds office, and the purchaser of
the property. This marked the end of Dutchtown as a company town.
Broadway N. 1802;
Broadway N. 1806;
Broadway N. 1806;
Broadway N. 1812;
Broadway N. 1818;
Broadway N. 1820;
Broadway N. 2007;
Broadway N. 2015;
Broadway N. 2017;
Broadway N. 2021;
First N. 1808; B42,
First N. 1810; B42,
First N. 1818; B43,
First N. 1909; B49,
First N. 1917; B49,
Hazel E. 101; B46,
Hazel E. 106; B57,
Hazel E. 110; B56,
Hazel E. 122; B56,
B42, SY2 L3; 57 Deeds 12; William Jost
B42, N1 L3; 57 Deeds 35; Christ Diethert
B42, S 40' L2; 57 Deeds 216; Christ Diethert
B42, N1/2 L2; 50 Deeds 626; August Sinkbill
B42, S1/2 L1; 57 Deeds 11; Carl Radunz
B42, Nl/2 Ll; 57 Deeds 16; Frederick Drager
B53, W1/2 of N1/2 L4 & W1/2 of S1/2 L5; Herman Lange
B53, N% L5; 57 Deeds 51; Ferdinand Bathka
B53, S1 L6; 50 Deeds 636; B. E. Pospeschinske
B53, N% L6; 57 Deeds 34; William Neske
N1/2 L4; 57 Deeds 24; Julius Teska
S1/2 L5; 57 Deeds 25; Augusuta Lagerman
Sl/2 L1 & N 37' L2; 57 Deeds 431; Carl Lawrenz
S 27' L5; 50 Deeds 624; Edward Wirth
S%2 L6; 50 Deeds 631; Jacob Brandt
E 50' Li & E 50' N1 L2; 57 Deeds 60; Emil Tunge
S1/2 L3; 57 Deeds 36; Michael Schumacher
S1/2 L4; 57 Deeds 34; John Reier
S1/2 L3; 50 Deeds 633; Christ. Glazier
109
Appendix B
Hazel E. 209; B48, Nz/z L6; 50 Deeds 635; Andrew Hinz
Hazel E. 410; B53, S1/2 L4; 57 Deeds 17; Andrew Rumpf
Lake N. 2015; B52, S 131/2' L1 & N. 53' L2; 55 Deeds 303; Louis Hinz
Lake N. 2021; B52, L1; 55 Deeds 217; Gottfried Pretzel'
Lake N. 2024; B52, N 30' Li; 60 Deeds 267; John Lembka
Poplar E. 309; B40, N% L6; 57 Deeds 13; Herman Meister
Schulenburg Alley 2001; B53, S1/2 L3; 57 Deeds 31; Fred. Rentzloff
Schulenburg Alley 2007; B53, NY2 L3; 50 Deeds 623; Edward Teska
Schulenburg Alley 2011; B53, S1/2 L2; 50 Deeds 265; Emil Seekel
Schulenburg Alley 2017; B53, N1 L2; 50 Deeds 629; Herman Balfanz
Schulenburg Alley 2021; B53, S1/2 L1; 57 Deeds 68; William Balfanz
Schulenburg Alley 2023; B53, N 1/2 L1; 57 Deeds 266; Mrs. William Steinkamp
Second N. 1820; B43, N1 of S1/2 L6; 57 Deeds 67; Michael Kolander
Second N. 1913; B48, S 25' of N1 L5; 50 Deeds 640; William Vorltzman
Second N. 1915; B49, N 73' L5; 57 Deeds 4; Martin Radunz
Second N. 1917; B48, S1 L6; 57 Deeds 47; Henry Balfanz
Second N. 2006; B56, N1 L3; 57 Deeds 28; Gustav Firchow
Second N. 2012; B56, S1 L2; 57 Deeds 29; Fred Klamman
Second N. 2016; B56, N1/2 L2; 57 Deeds 3; Rose Wachsmuth
Second N. 2018; B56, S% L1; 57 Deeds 46; John Wirth
Third N. 2007; B56, N1/2 L4; 57 Deeds 26; August Bachkolk
Third N. 2008; B57, N1 L3; 57 Deeds 158; Henry Batine
Third N. 2009; B56, Sl/z L5; 50 Deeds 634; August Gust
Third N. 2012; B57, S1 L2; 57 Deeds 27; Gottlieb Kress
Third N. 2013; B56, N1/2 L5; 57 Deeds 32; Herman Millarch
Willow E. 119; B44, part of L1 & L2; 57 Deeds 134; John Plumbaum
Willow E. 207; B43, N1 L6; 57 Deeds 21; Carl Dahlke
110
Appendix B
Willow E. 301; B42, W1/3 L6; 57 Deeds 45; Herman Griff
Willow E. 307; B42, part L6; 57 Deeds 39; Paulina Carn
Willow E. 309; B42, E1/3 L6; 57 Deeds 239; John Ponath
No house; B40, N1/2 L2; 57 Deeds 156; Johanne Jenson
No house; B40, S1/2 L6; 57 Deeds 609; Herman Miester (1906 transaction)
111
112
Appendix C
APPENDIX C
The following list was compiled from the 1927 Stillwater City Directory.
That Directory is an alphabetical list of the residents of Stillwater along with their
occupations. In order to compile this list, I went through the Directory page by
page and collected those names listed at Dutchtown addresses. To make sure, I had
a name for every address, I double checked the house numbers against the 1930
Stillwater City Directory which, for the first time, had a listing of all the house
numbers in Stillwater.
Those addresses that are underlined are houses that no longer exist.
Alder E. 305 Caroline Nothnagle, (widow Gust)
Henry Nothnagle, laborer
Alder E. 428 Theodore Lueken, shoeworker, Foot Schulze & Co.
Broadway N. 1422 (no listing)
Broadway N. 1722 Bernard. Balfanz, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Broadway N. 1802 Emelze Yost (widow William)
Broadway N. 1806 William Teske, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Broadway N. 1812 August Senkbeil, operator, Stillwater Mfg. Co.
Herman W. Senkbeil, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Broadway N. 1815 Leo J. Werner, treer, Connolly Shoe Co.
Marie Werner, operator, Smithson Paper Box Co.
Martha Werner (widow Fred)
Rose Werner, shoeworker, Foot Schulze & Co.
Broadway N. 1818 Anthony E. Kaeck, molder, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Broadway N. 1820 Alvie Owsley
Carol W. Hagen, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Broadway N. 1902 Ephraim Mondor, stoker, Northern States P. Co.
Broadway N. 1914 Albert E. Fischer, laster, Connolly Shoe Co.
Broadway N. 1920 Lewis Rice, clerk, Ryden & Holquist
Maude Rice, shoeworker, Foot Schulze & Co.
William A. Rice, guard, Minn. State Prison
113
Appendix C
Broadway N. 1921 Lloyd Severson, operator, Stillwater Mfg. Co.
Mrs. Leona Severson, operator, Connolly Shoe Co.
Broadway N. 2007 Adolph A. Korn, nailer, Stillwater Mfg. Co.
Broadway N. 2015 Arthur Love, operator, Stillwater Mfg. Co.
Broadway N. 2016 August Koppen
Broadway N. 2017 Charles Seekel, warehouseman, Minnesota Mercantile Co.
Harry Seekel, shoeworker, Foot Schulze & Co.
Broadway N. 2018 Alma Guse (widow Reinhold)
Wendolin Schell, laborer
Broadway N. 2021 Augusta Neske (widow William)
Broadway N. 2022 Ernest Lembke, foreman, Stillwater Mfg. Co.
(newer house at this number)
First N. 1406 Henry Merritt, laborer
William Merritt, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
First N. 1414 Paul Roettger, machinist, T.C. Forge & Foundry
(newer house at this number)
First N. 1818 Charles Lawrence, laborer
First N. 1.824 Anna Placzek (widow Constantine)
Joseph Placzek, laborer
Marie A. Placzek, operator, Smithson Paper Box Co.
Thomas Placzek, shoemaker, Foot Schulze & Co.
First N. 1908 August F. Ulrich, painter
Edmund Ulrich, painter
Gust Ulrich, salesman
First N. 1911 Joseph J. Radunz, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Julianna Radunz (widow Martin)
First N. 1912 Helen Brown, shoeworker, Foot Schulze & Co.
Theodore Draves, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
William A. Brown, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
William E. Brown, shoeworker, Foot Schulze & Co.
First N. 1914 Thomas Kundert
First N. 1924 Herbert Berg, laborer
Lillian E. Berg, clerk
Otto E. Berg, operator, Connolly Shoe Co.
Reinhard F. Berg, foundryman, Mn. State Prison
114
Appendix C
Fourth N. 1410 Clara Ponath, dressmaker
Ernest Ponath, laborer
Fourth N. 1420 Ida Clayton (wid Chas) cook at Lowell Inn
Fourth N. 1802 Gust. Lentz
Josephine Lentz, machine operator
Mildred Lentz, shoeworker, Foot Schulze & Co.
Mrs. Mary Lentz, janitor, Schulenburg School
Fourth N. 1901 Knute O. Cederblom, cabinetmaker, Stillwater Mfg. Co.
Fourth N. 1902 George Seeman, laborer
John Seeman, laborer
William Seeman, laborer
Fourth N. 1910 Emma Peters, shoeworker, Foot Schulze & Co.
Hazel E. 110 Lydia Klamann, shoeworker, Foot Schulze & Co.
Margaret Tuenge, folder, Kolliner-Newman Mfg. Co.
William F A Tuenge, grader, Stillwater Mfg. Co.
Hazel E. 122 Emil E. Glaser, guard, Minn State Prison
Paul Glaser, Clerk, H.H. Stewart
Hazel E. 222 Herman Leitzow
Hazel E. 302 Irvine London, yardman, John J. Kilty & Son
Hazel E. 304 Wilhelmina Colemier (wid. Frank)
Hazel E. 311 John Schell, laborer T.C. Forge & Foundry
Hazel E. 312 George Burkhart, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Hazel E. 324 George Datterwerch, grocery and residence
Hazel E. 410 Rose Rump (widow Andrew)
Hazel W. 101 Emil F. Tuenge, watchman (now 101 E. Hazel)
Lake N. 2005 Rose Nitz (widow August)
Lake N. 2009 Frank Rump, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Lake N. 2021 Oscar L. Hicks, mechanic, Gilbert Mfg. Co.
(Newer house at that address)
Lake N. 2023 Sarah Lembke (widow John) (Same as 2024)
115
Appendix C
Main N. 1704 Albina Newhouse, shoeworker, Foot Schulze & Co.
Frank Spevak, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Peter Newhouse, hides, 440 S. Main, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Vern C. Roettger (Roettger Bros)
Main N. 1710 Bernard A. Klein, laborer
Leo W. Klein, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Ray F. Klein, laborer
William Klein, teamster
Main N. 1716 Ray A. Anderson, Confectionary store
Main N. 1718 Ferdinand Westphal, shoeworker, Foot Schulze & Co.
Frances Westphal, shoeworker, Foot Schulze & Co.
John Westphal., apprentice
Mrs. Louisa Westphal
Reinhold Westphal, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Poplar E. 401 Amelia Stenzel (widow Fred)
Schulenburg Alley 2007 John Schroeder
Schulenburg Alley 2011 Emil J. Seekel, warehouseman, Minnesota Mercantile Co.
Schulenburg Alley 2012 Evangeline Klamann, clerk, W.J. Leffek
Leora Klamann, shoeworker, Foot Schulze & Co.
Otto Klamman, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Schulenburg Alley 2017 Evaline Balfanz, emp. Kolliner-Newman Mfg. Co.
Gustina Balfanz (widow Herman)
Helen Balfanz, emp. Kolliner-Newman Mfg. Co.
William Balfanz, Jr. laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Schulenburg Alley 2021 Irma Balfanz, operator, Connolly Shoe Co.
Robert Anderson, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
William Balfanz, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Schulenburg Alley 2023 Charles Gietman, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Schulenburg Alley 2103 Bertha L. Radloff, seamstress
Alma Anderegg, maid
Caroline Radloff (widow William)
Schulenburg Alley 2107 Emil Thiel, laborer, M & St.P S RR
Arthur R. Balfanz, shoeworker, Foot Schulze Co.
I-lerman Thiel, laborer, Anderson Lumber Co.
Louisa Thiel (widow Julius)
116
Appendix C
Second N. 1812 Albert Kolbe
Second N. 1817 Alfred Kollander, laborer
Emma Kollander, clerk, Murphy & Co.
Frayette Welch, clerk, Post Office
Gerhardt Kollander, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Michael Kollander, laborer
Ottilie Kollander, seamstress
Second N. 1902 Ray A. Anderson, confectioner (same as 1901)
Second N. 1905 Arthur Schell, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Second N. 1911 Wilhelmina Seekel (wid Gottfried)
(Newer house at this address)
Second N. 1913 Edward Ponath, doormaker, Stillwater Mfg. Co.
Second N. 2012 Fred Klamann
Robert Klamann
Second N. 2016 Mary Regan
Second N. 2018 Edward H. Hoppe, operator, Stillwater Mfg. Co.
Florintina Wirth (widow John)
Second n.w. corner Willow, Schulenburg School
Third N. 2009 Edward F. Ponath, laborer, Anderson Lumber Co.
Michael Ponath, operator, Stillwater Mfg. Co.
Third N. 2012 Ernest Kress, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Gottlieb Kress, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Harry Kress, laborer
Oscar Kress, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Third N. 2013 Ewald Neske, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Gl.enmore Neske, shoeworker, Foot Schulze & Co.
Willow E. 125 John Plumbaum
Walter Wilkins, foreman, Minn. State Prison
Willow E. 207 Christian Schwanke
Willow E. 224 George O. Burgess, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
Johanna Guse (widow Ludwig)
Ora Burgress, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
William Guse, laborer
117
Appendix C
Willow E. 301
Willow E. 307
Willow E. 309
Willow E. 310
John Rump, laborer, T.C. Forge & Foundry
John Korn, laborer, Gilbert Mfg. Co.
William Korn, laborer
Herman Thiel
Mrs. Laura Thiel, works Kolliner-Newman Mfg. Co.
Ellen Kelly
118
CONTEXTS
There were two contexts appropriate to this survey. The first context
was the statewide historic context: St. Croix Valley Triangle Lumbering
(1843-1914).
I have demonstrated throughout this survey that Dutchtown was
created and nourished by the Schulenburg & Boeckeler Lumber Company,
and its successors, from 1853 to 1907. In a sense, this community is almost a
definition of this context because Dutchtown is the direct result of the
lumbering industry in the St. Croix Valley which had its headquarters in
Stillwater. I have illustrated that most of the residents of Dutchtown worked
for the lumber company; that, for many years, the lumber company
maintained the only general store in the community; that almost half of the
residences were owned by the lumber company; and that for the first half of
its history, the fortunes of the community were dependent on the fortunes of
the Schulenburg & Boeckeler Lumber Company.
The second context, which comes from the Stillwater historic context
study (Vogel 1993) was: Development of Residential Neighborhoods in
Stillwater, 1850's-1940's.
For this context, I have demonstrated throughout the survey how the
neighborhood developed, not only as a company mil town, but as a somewhat
isolated ethnic German community. These kinds of enclaves were common in
the nineteenth century and many lasted well into the twentieth century. In
St. Paul, for example, "Little Italy" on the floodplain below the Smith Avenue
High Bridge lasted until the devastating flood of 1953. "Swede Hollow", with
its succession of immigrant communities, also existed into the 1950's. In
Minneapolis, the well -documented "Bohemian Flats" across from the East
Bank of the University of Minnesota campus, was home to many Eastern
Europeans. In Stillwater, there are anecdotes of a small Italian community
living in Sabin's Addition.
Since 1940, as I have tried to indicate, Dutchtown has been developing
as a river -view, river -front community. Unlike the old Dutchtown which
related to the river as an industrial corridor, the new Dutchtown is relating
to the river as a recreational corridor.
119
120
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Birds Eye Views of Stillwater, 1870 and 1879. Drawn by Albert Ruger. Originals
in the Washington County Historical Society, Warden's House Museum. Reprints
available from Empson Archives, P.O. Box 791, Stillwater, MN 55082.
Book A. Register of Deeds, St. Croix County, Wisconsin Territory. Washington
County Recorder's Office. [Unpublished]
Book of St. Louisans, edited by John W. Leonard, St. Louis, The St. Louis Republic,
1906.
Daily Minnesotian [newspaper, St. Paul, Minnesota Territory]
Encyclopedia of the History of St. Louis, edited by William Hyde and Howard L.
Conard. Vol 1. New York, The Southern History Company, 1899.
History of St. Louis City and County, including Biographical Sketches of
Representative Men, by J. Thomas Scharf. Philadelphia, Louis H. Everts & Co.
1883.
History of the Draver/Loome House; 1219 N. William Street, Stillwater,
unpublished manuscript, by Donald Empson, 1996.
History of the Greeley Residential Area, Stillwater, Minnesota by Donald Empson,
Empson Archives, 1997.
History of the St. Croix Valley, edited by Augustus B. Easton. Chicago, H.C. Cooper
Jr. & Co., 1909.
History of the White Pine Industry in Minnesota by Agnes M. Larson, University of
Minnesota Press, 1949.
History of Washington County and The St. Croix Valley, North Star Publishing
Company, Minneapolis, 1881.
An old lumberjack reminisces. By Louis Iserman. Privately published, 1969.
Minnesota Pioneer [newspaper, St. Paul, Minnesota Territory]
Old and New St. Louis, by James Cox. Central Biographical Publishing Company,
St. Louis, 1894.
121
Bibliography
Mercantile Industrial and Professional Saint Louis, by E. D. Kargau. Nixon -Jones
Ptg. Co. [1902].
Plat of Part of Carli & Schulenburg's Addition to Stillwater, Minn. Surveyed and
Platted by Lewis W. Clarke, Civil Engineer. Stillwater, Minn, Dec. 1892. Scale 50
Ft. to One Inch. Approximate size: 3 feet by 4 feet. In the St. Croix Collection,
Stillwater Public Library.
Plan of Stillwater, prepared under the direction of The Park Board, 1918. Morell &
Nichols, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Sanborn Insurance Maps, 1884, 1891, 1898, 1904, 1910, 1924..
St. Anthony Express [newspaper, St. Anthony, Minnesota Territory]
St. Croix County, Wisconsin Territory. Commissioner's Minutes. Historic
Courthouse. [Unpublished]
St. Croix Union [newspaper, Stillwater, Minnesota]
St. Louis Business and Industry, 1877, reprinted in The Missouri Historical Society
Bulletin, January, 1960.
St. Louis County (Mo.) Probate Court Files.
St. Louis Directory, for the Years 1840-1. By Charles Keemle. C. Keemle, Book
and Job Printers, St. Louis. 1840.
St. Louis: Her Trade, Commerce and Industries, 1882-3. By Jno. E. Land. St.
Louis: Published by the Author, 1882.
St. Louis; An Informal History of the City and Its People, 1764-1865. By Charles
van Ravenswaay. Missouri Historical Society Press, 1991.
St. Paul Pioneer Press [newspaper, St. Paul, Minnesota
Sectional Map of the City of Stillwater, [1878]. There is a copy of this map hanging
in the Washington County Recorder's Office.
Stillwater City Directories, 1876-1964
Stillwater Country Club, 1924-1974; 50th Anniversary. Prepared by Betty Roney.
N.P., N. D.
Stillwater. Daily Gazette [newspaper, Stillwater, Minnesota]
122
Bibliography
Stillwater Historic Contexts: A Comprehensive Planning Approach. Stillwater:
Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission, July 1993.
Stillwater Gazette [newspaper, Stillwater, Minnesota]
Stillwater Lumberman [newspaper, Stillwater, Minnesota]
Stillwater Messenger [newspaper, Stillwater, Minnesota]
Stillwater, My Hometown and Yours, Unit 48, American Legion Auxiliary, 1989.
Chapter 21, Carli and Schulenburg's Addition —Third Ward Dutchtown, by Lillian
and Louise Berg.
Stillwater Public Library. Stillwater Building Permits [on microfilm]
Stillwater Public Library. St. Croix Collection.
United States. Census of Minnesota Territory. Washington County. Stillwater.
Washington County Probate Court Files.
Washington County Recorder's Office: Books of Deeds, Books of Mortgages, Books
of Bonds, Books of Plats.
Washington County Tax Assessor's records for 1861-1900. Minnesota State
Archives. Microfilm copies can be found at the Minnesota Historical Society, and
the Stillwater Public Library.
123
124
RECOMMENDATIONS
Given the continuing rate of change since 1900, it is inevitable that
within the next 20 years many of the remaining old homes in the original
part of Dutchtown will be gone. Unless some measures are taken in the area
north of E. Poplar Street, and east of N. Fourth Street, the remainder of this
historic community will have vanished by the time the next generation
reaches adulthood.
1.) My strongest recommendation is that the Dutchtown
community itself, particularly those living in the old part, band
together to form a community organization. I believe that Dutchtown
has unique characteristics and singular opportunities that require an
independent voice. By using this organization as a vehicle to exert political
pressure, the residents could have a strong voice, for the first time, in the
ultimate fate of their community.
2.) I would recommend the Dutchtown community develop and
lobby for design guidelines within its area. These guidelines would
address, among other issues, lot sizes, zoning, building parameters and the
size of new buildings. Already there are a couple of homes greatly out of
scale, both with the original houses and the geography. Dutchtown is
unique in Stillwater for its small houses, wooded lots, hilly terrain, and
narrow streets. Those characteristics should be preserved.
3.) I would recommend the Dutchtown community consider the
possibility of preserving some of the oldest original homes. If it is not
possible to save them on their original site —certainly the best option —then
at least a selected sampling might be moved into Schulenburg Park. In fact,
at some point, perhaps several of the smaller houses could be moved into the
Park and a residential area created after the example of, say, Irvine Park in
St. Paul.
4.) Although as a part of this Survey, I have taken photographs
of all the houses in Dutchtown, the community might consider
making videotapes of the old part of the community, and collecting
oral histories of the people and places of old Dutchtown.
Unfortunately it was not really within the scope of this survey to print many
of the stories, anecdotal and otherwise, which I heard in the process of my
work.
5.) I would recommend the Dutchtown community consider the
infrastructure of the area. For example, if the roadway on the Willow
125
Recommendations
Street and Hazel Street hills would be improved and widened, it will not only
change the scale of the road, but it generate more traffic within the area, as
well as additional traffic on N. Second Street south to downtown. Many of
the homes do not have city sewer and water; assessments to provide those
services could be a future expense of great consequence to the older residents
on fixed or small incomes. The limestone curbs on N. Second Street, for
example, should be preserved to retain the flavor of the original streetscape.
6.) The community should market itself and its history to
potential residents who wish to live within a community of this
flavor. Many people would find a diverse, historic community with its many
small homes a very desirable place to live. There should be an effort to
attract compatible residents, and likewise, an effort made to discourage the
developers and others who wish to tear down the existing buildings and
supplant them with nondescript dwellings of a suburban nature.
As part of this marketing effort, the community should seek to
encourage and reward those residents who are actively working to preserve
the original appearance and integrity of the older Dutchtown houses.
Grants, either from the city, state, or federal government should be actively
pursued to assist in the restoration and preservation of these older homes.
7.) As a part of the requirements for this Survey, I have
identified three homes that qualify to be placed on the National
Register of Historic Places.
• 2007 Schulenburg Alley is the finest remaining example of the original
mill hand's house that was once so common in Dutchtown; a type of
structure seldom found elsewhere in Stillwater. As such, it is significant
architecture in Dutchtown.
• 1924 N. First Street is the best remaining example of an early Dutchtown
homestead. With its several outbuildings and original house, it is typical
of what comprised a total homestead. Today the out buildings that were
so much a part of every lot have almost totally disappeared; this property
best conveys the 19th Century era.
• 5 Rivercrest Lane is a brick home built in 1941 by Mrs. George Atwood.
The architecture is typical of the pre -World War II period —a type of
architecture that is rare in Stillwater. George Atwood was at one time
the owner of the Schulenburg & Boeckeler Mill which created Dutchtown,
and the bricks used in the construction of this home came from the Twin
City Forge and Foundry, which was a Dutchtown business. This was also
one of the first homes built after the turn of the century in the Dutchtown
area south of E. Poplar Street.
126
Index
A
American Clay Products Company, 78
Anderegg, Alma, 116
Anderson, Ole, 102
Anderson, Ray A., 116, 117
Anderson, Robert, 116
Atlee, Sam, 72
Atwood "B" Mill, 72
bums, 75
Atwood, George, 72, 77, 109
Atwood, Mrs. George, 45, 91, 95
B
Bachkolk, August, 110
Balfanz, Arthur R., 116
Balfanz, Bernard, 113
Balfanz, Evaline & Gustina & Helen & William, Jr.,
116
Balfanz, Henry, 107, 110
Balfanz, Herbert, 95
Balfanz, Herman, 106, 110
Balfanz, Irma & William, 116
Balfanz, William, 106, 110
Banderloff, Gotlieb, 106
Bannister, 92
Bathka, Ferdinand, 109
Batine, Henry, 110
Behrens, Charles, 59
Benz, Augustus, 21
Berg, Augusta & Reinhart & Herman, 103
Berg, Charles, 104
Berg, Herbert & Lillian E. & Otto E. & Reinhard F.,
114
Berg, John, 56
Berg, John & Augusta & Reinhart & William &
Charles & Louise, 57
Berg, William, 108
Berschens, Lena & Nicholas, 102
Biele, Henry, 26
Binker, Albert & Sophia & John, 103
Binker, John & Sophia, 44
Bird's Eye View, 27, 29, 37, 54, 56, 63
Bloomquist, John, 101
Boeckeler, Adolophus
becomes partners with Schulenburg, 14
comes to United States, 13
dies, 69
marries, 18
portrait, 68
Boom Road, 91, 92
Brandt, Jacob, 109
Bremner, Caroline & Henry, 108
Bronson, W.G., 72
Brown, Helen & William A. & William E., 114
Brown, Joseph R., 9, 10, 14, 19
Brown's Creek, 9, 14, 29, 30, 86, 91, 92, 96
Burgess, George O. & Ora, 117
Burkhart, George, 115
Buttke, Amelia & August, 107
Carli & Schulenburg's Addition, 16
earliest houses being built, 21
Carli, Christopher, 10, 14, 15, 16, 18
Carli, Lydia, 10
Carn, Paulina, 111
Casey, Michael, 27
Cederblom, Knute O., 115
Census
1857,21
1860, 23
1870, 27
1880, 53
Challeen, Dan, 97
Charlotte Boeckeler, 18
Charlottenburg, 18
Civil War Period, 26
Clayton, Ida & Charles, 115
Colemier, Wilhelmina & Frank, 115
Collins, Nicholas, 102
Commercial Development, 45
Cosino, Alphonse, 108
D
Dacotah, 9, 10, 11, 14, 19, 49
Dahlke, Carl, 108, 110
Datterwerch, George, 61, 115
deaths
first in Dutchtown, 10
Deggeller, Walter, 102
depression
1839, 13
1858, 22
1873, 34
1893, 68
1929, 77
Deragish, Jacob & Mary, 43
Deragish, John & Maria, 43
Deragish, Julius & Catherine, 43
DeSteno, Deb, 97
Diethert, Christopher, 57, 100, 109
Dockendorif, Charles & Hiram W., 103
Drager, Elizabeth & Martin, 100
127
Index
Drager, Frederick & Florentine, 56
Draver, Henry C. & Anna, 22, 23
biography, 42
personal property tax, 26
Draves, Theodore, 114
Dutchtown
earliest use of name, 18
Dutchtown house, 23, 25, 29, 89
F
Fairy Falls., 92
Ferchow, Gustaf, 107
Firchow, Gustav, 110
Fischer, Albert E., 113
Flood, Martin, 53
Frazier, Al & Bud, 90
Freitag, Henry, 56
Fun and Games, 87
1
Garth, Annie, 104
Germans, 30
Geskie, Michael, 107
Gietman, Charles, 116
Gilbert Manufacturing Company, 79
Glade, John, 43, 100
personal property tax, 26
Glaser, Charles & Emil & Christopher, 104
Glaser, Christopher & Caroline & Charles & Eanil, 57
Glaser, Emil E. & Paul, 115
Glazier, Christ, 109
Goph, Frederick, 100
Goph, Herman, 102
Graff, Roy, 91
Griff, Herman, 111
Guse, Alma, 114
Guse, Johanna & William, 117
Guse, Ludwig & Johanna, 57
Gust, August, 110
H
Hagen, Carol W., 113
Handevidt, Wally, 95
Hanson, James P., 61, 105
Hanson, Mary & Hans, 102
Harmon, Frederick & Teresa, 43
Harnish, Henry & Hannah, 43
Hazelhorst, Bernard & Marie, 43
Hersey, Staples & Co., 19
Hicks, Oscar L., 115
Hiller, Ferdinand, 103
Hiller, Frederick, 106
Hintz, August S., 104
Hintz, Hulda, 73
Hinz, Andreas & Louis, 105
Hinz, Andrew, 110
Hinz, Frederick, 101
Hinz, Louis, 110
Hirschberg, L. C., 59
Hoppe, Albertina & Arnold, 107
Hoppe, Edward H., 117
Hospes, Adolphus, 41, 42
Hospes, Ernest, 41, 42, 59, 72
Hospes, Louis & Eliza, 22
biography, 38
house compared to Staples mansion, 40
house description, 38
large income, 26
Hospes, Otto, 41
houses
1894, 71
1909-1947,91
location in 1860, 24
location in 1870, 28
location in 1880, 55
location in 1894, 99-108
location in 1927, 113-118
sold to tenants, 1902, 73
that no longer exist, 89
value in 1860, 23
value in 1870, 27
value in 1880, 54
value in 1894, 99-108
Iserman, August, 44
Isermann, Adolph, 102
Isermann, August F. & August F. W. & William, 104
J
Janetz, William, 56
Janitz, Henrietta & August & William, 102
Janitz, William & Herman & Phillip, 57
Jarchow, Dettlof & Lasettea, 47
Jensen, Hans, 105
Jenson, Johanne, 111
Jesse, Christopher, 105
Johnson., Gates A., 101
Jost, William, 109
Just, William, 100
K
Kaeck, Anthony E., 113
Kahl, Henry, 90
Kalinoff, Frederick, 91, 95
Kalke, John, 106
Kelly, Edward & James & John & Joseph, 108
Kelly, Ellen, 118
Kelly, James & Mary & Edward & John & Joseph, 56
Kelly's Hill, 56
128
Index
Kelly, James & Mary & Edward & John & Joseph, 56
Kelly's Hill, 56
Kennedy, Robert, 10
Kirschner, Richard, 105
Klamann, Evangeline & Leora & Otto, 116
Klamann, Ferdinand & Frank & Rudolph, 107
Klamann, Fred & Robert, 117
Klamann, Lydia, 115
Klamman, Fred, 110
Klammen, Otto, 90
Klaumer, Frank, 107
Klawitter, Herman, 104
Klein, Bernard A. & Leo W. & Ray F. & William, 116
Klein, Frank & Frank Jr., 105
Klein, Frank & Teresa, 44
Klein, Joseph, 105
Kluttke, Herman, 103
Kluttke, Herman G., 105
Knips St. Croix Brewery, 37
history of, 46
Knips, Gerhard, 23
personal property tax, 26
Knips, Jacob, 21
Knips, Robert, 47
Knutson, Abraham, 105
Kolander, John, 101
Kolander, Michael, 106, 110
Kolbe, Albert, 117
Kolbe, Albert & Caroline & Albert, 106
Kollander, Alfred & Emma & Gerhardt & Michael &
Ottilie, 117
Koppen, August, 114
Kom, Adolph A., 114
Korn, John & William, 118
Korn, William & Adolph & Paulina, 108
Korn, William & August & Paulina, 57
Krenke, Stephen, 103
Kress, Ernest & Gottlieb & Harry & Oscar, 117
Kress, Gotlieb, 107
Kress, Gottlieb, 110
Kubli, Frederick, 106
Kuehn, Louis, 106
Kuenkel, August, 104
Kundert, Thomas, 114
Kunkel, Gustav, 102
L
Lagerman, Augusta, 109
Lakeview Terrace, 95
Lambrecht, August, 101
Lange, Herman, 101, 109
Lassen, Charlotte, 18
Lawrence, Charles, 114
Lawrenz, Carl, 109
Lecuyer, Edward, 105
Leitzow, Herman, 115
Lembka, John, 110
Lembke, Ernest, 114
Lembke, John, 105
Lembke, John & Sophia, 56
Lembke, Sarah & John, 115
Lentz, Gust & Josephine & Mildred & Mrs. Mary, 115
Lietzow, Herman, 103
Linner, Lawrence, 91, 95
London, Irvine, 115
Love, Arthur, 114
Lueken, Theodore, 113
Lustig, John & Augusta, 56
Lustig, Joseph, 102
Main Street North
businesses destoyed, 63
completed, 31
commercial buildings destroyed, 61
extended over Lake Street, 60
widened, 77
widened into highway, 91
Maison, Thomas, 53
Manthey, Martin, 104
Mardans, Albert, 56
Maritronics, 96, 97
McCormick, George, 105
McKusick, John, 14
Meister, Herman, 105, 110
Mellarch, Herman, 107
Merritt, Henry & William, 114
Mielke, Andreas, 104
Miester, Herman, 111
Millarch, Herman, 110
Millarch, Pat, 90
Millucke, Herman, 107
Mitchell, Elias, 105
Mitchell, Frank, 105
Mondor, Ephraim, 113
Monti, Martin, 104
Morell & Nichols, 86
N
National Register of Historic Places, 25
Neske, Augusta & William, 114
Neske, Duffy, 90
Neske, Herman, 90
Neske, William, 102, 109
Neuman, Albert & Otto & Rose & Frederick, 107
Newhouse, Albina & Peter, 48, 91, 116
Nitz, August, 104
Nitz, Rose & August, 115
North Western Manufacturing Company, 78
Nothnagel, Gustaf, 100
Nothnagel, Gustave & Caroline, 56
Nothnagle, Caroline & Gust & Henry, 113
Nothnagle, Henry, 90
129
Index
0
Ousely's Store, 61
Owens, John P., 19
Owsley, Alvie, 113
1
Park Plan, 86
Peters, Emma, 115
Picnic Hill, 92
Placzek, Anna & Constantine & Joseph & Marie A. &
Thomas, 114
Plaetcher, Conrad, 101
Plumbaum, John, 107, 110, 117
Ponath Family, 57
Ponath, August C. & Carl, 103
Ponath, Charles E., 103
Ponath, Clara & Ernest, 115
Ponath, Edward, 107, 117
Ponath, Edward F. & Michael, 117
Ponath, John, 111
Ponath, John & Mrs. Augusta, 108
Pop Factory, 49
Pospeschinske, B. E., 109
Pospeshenske, Bruno E., 105
Pospeshenske, Josephine & Stanislaus, 100
Pretzel, Gustav & Gotfried & Julius, 105
Pretzel], Gottfried, 110
Prices, 64
Pringle, John E., 101
R
1
Radloff, Bertha L. & Caroline, 116
Radloff, Dora & William, 106
Radloff, William, 106
Radunz, Carl, 104, 109
Radunz, Joseph J. & Julianna & Martin, 114
Radunz, Martin, 102, 110
Radunz, William, 107
Railroad, 30
Recommendations, 125
Regan, Mary, 117
Registered Land Survey #3, 95
Registered Land Survey #7, 95
Reier, John, 109
Reier, William & John & Paul, 104
Rengstorff, Doretta & John D. & George, 101
Rengstorff, John & Doretta & George, 57
Rentzdorf, John, 27
Rentzloff, Ferdinand, 105
Rentzloff, Fred, 110
Reutimann, Ernest & Jacob, 101
Reutimann, Rudolph & Adolph, 102
Reutimann, Rudolph & Bertha, 57
Revord, Nathan, 105
Rice, Lewis & Maude & William A., 113
River View, 95-97
Roeder, Eva, 73
Roepke, Charles, 103
Roepke, Emil, 107
Roepke, Frederick, 106
Roettger, Paul, 114
Roettger, Vern C., 116
Rohner, Jacob J. & Jacob & William F. & Fritz, 106
Rosche, Frederick S., 105
Rueckert, Charles, 103
Rumely, Edward, 86
Rump, Frank, 115
Rump, Henry & Agnes, 104
Rump, John, 118
Rump, Rose, 115
Rumpf "Dutch Harbor", 96
Rumpf, Andrew, 110
Sauntry, William, 72
Schell, Arthur, 117
Schell, John, 115
Schell, Wendolin, 114
Schermuly, William, 49, 50
Schilling Pop Factory, 61
Schraeder, John, 106
Schroeder, John, 116
Schuelling, Antone, 50
Schuelling, Theodore & Anton & William, 104
Schuelling, William, 50, 51, 56, 104
Schulenburg & Boeckeler Mill
building first one, 16
company store, 61
description of fast, 35
description of second, 59
early history, 20
fire destroys second mill, 64
fire destroys first mill, 32
lumber cut first season, 19
mill in 1865, 26
noise from, 21
sold to George Atwood, 72
sold to Staples, 69
sold to Staples & Atlee, 72
Schulenburg Alley, 25, 44, 54, 58, 63, 84, 96, 97, 99,
101, 105, 106, 110, 116
Schulenburg, Frederick
becomes partners with Boeckeler, 14
biography, 36
comes to Stillwater, 14
dies, 69
largest income, 26
Schumacher, Michael, 109
Schumacher, Michael & Michael Jr., 103
Schutt, Anna & Henry, 101
Schwanke, Christian, 117
Schwenke, Christopher, 103
Scott, William, 102
130
Index
Sealaff, Adolph, 102
Seaman, Godfried, 100
Second Street
limestone curbs, 97
opened, 53
Seekel, Charles & Harry, 114
Seekel, Charlie, 90
Seekel, Emil, 110
Seekel, Emil J., 116
Seekel, Wilhelmina & Gottfried, 117
Seeman, George & John & William, 115
Seeman, John, 101, 108
Seggelke, Gustave, 101
Seikel, Charles & Emil & Julius, 100
Seikel, Julius & Henrietta, 56
Senkbeil, August & Andreas & Augusta & John, 101
Senkbeil, August & Herman W., 113
Severson, Lloyd & Mrs. Leona, 114
Siede, Adolph, 105
Simonson, Georgians, 61
Sinkbill, August, 109
Sorenson, Peter, 102
Spevak, Frank, 116
St. Croix Heights, 95
Staples, Isaac, 72
Steinkamp, Mrs. William, 110
Steinkamp, William & Wilhelmina & Clara, 44
Steinkamp, William & William Jr., 106
Stenzel, Amelia & Fred, 116
Stenzel's Store, 61
Stillwater Country Club Golf Course, 84
Stores in Dutchtown, 61
Street names, 16
T
1
Tamarack House, 10, 11, 49
Tax Assessor's Records
discrepancies, 54
Teenge, August, 108
Teenge, Emil, 103
Tepass Brewery, 47
Teska, Edward, 110
Teska, Julius, 109
Teske, Edward & Emil & Julius, 101
Teske, William, 113
The Atwood Farm, 73
The Civil War Period, 26
The Germans, 30
Thiel, Emil & Herman & Louisa, 116
Thiel, Frederick & Julius, 106
Thiel, Herman & Mrs. Laura, 118
Tuenge, Emil F., 115
Tuenge, Margaret & William F. A., 115
Tunge, Emil, 109
Twin City Forge & Foundry, 79
Ulrich, August & Michael, 106
Ulrich, August F. & Edmund & Gust, 114
Utecht, John, 104
Voeltzmann, William, 107
Vollmer, Henry B., 86
Volzman, Carl, 107
Vorltzman, William, 110
W
Wachsmuth, Rose, 110
Wagner, William, 102
Welch, Frayette, 117
Wells, 57
Werner, Leo J. & Marie & Martha & Rose, 113
Westphal, Ferdinand & Frances & John & Louisa &
Reinhold, 116
Weyerhauser, Frederick, 72
Wilcox, Nathaniel Greene, 15
Wilson, George E., 43
Wirth, Adolph & Edward & Edward Jr., 102
Wirth, Edward, 109
Wirth, Florintina & John, 117
Wirth, John, 110
Wirth, John & Martha, 107
Wittich, Mrs. Malvina, 103
Wolf Marine, 92, 96
Wolf, Walter & Helen, 96
Yope, Frederick, 100
Yope, Herman, 102
Yost, Emelze & William, 113
Youngquist, Charles, 105
Z
Zass, Bertha & Jacob, 54
Zass, Jacob, 108
Zass, Jacob & Bertha, 43
Zass, William, 23
Zass, William & Sophie, 43
131
CENTER STREET
eS
C��A History of the Greeley Residential Area
Stillwater, Minnesota
By Donald Empson
MULBERRY STREET
Funded in part by a grant from the National Park Service
Administered by the Minnesota Historical Society
And
The Heritage Preservation Commission of the
City of Stillwater
HOLCOMBE STREET