History

Before there were trains in the Crookston area, even before Crookston was Crookston, Joe Rolette started what is now known as the Pembina Trail. The Trail served as commercial transportation for the Red River Valley. Traveled by ox carts carrying furs and supplies from Pembina to Saint Paul, it exposed the Red River Valley’s rich agricultural soil. The carts were crudely built and cost about $15 each; the wheels were not greased making the travelers heard for miles. It is said that the sound would “make your blood run cold.” You can still see the deep ruts made by the ox carts in the prairie. A memorial to the Pembina Trail and Joe Rolette, the Father of the Pembina Trail, can be seen on U.S. Highway 2 in front of the Red River Valley Shows building.

According to the late Judge Watts, the name Crookston was first given to the post office (formerly called Hawley), then to the township, and finally to the city. There were many suggestions when it came to naming Crookston, such as, Ames, Aetna, and Crooksbury. It is said that many felt the first mayor, Mr. Davis, a railroad surveyor, should be honored by naming the city after him. Others thought it should be named after Colonel Crooks who came to Minnesota in 1857 to work as the assistant engineer with the Minnesota and Pacific. Supposedly, a coin was flipped to settle the question…and here we are, Crookston, Minnesota.

In 1871, the first settlers came to Polk County. In 1873, Crookston was named the county seat. Crookston’s history is strongly linked to the development of agriculture and transportation.
In 1872, the Great Northern Railway and steamboats from the Red River reached the present site of Crookston. Settlements flourished through the Homestead Act and the sale of railroad and school tracts.

Another historic event in 1873 was the post office. E. M. Walsh was the first postmaster, and his salary was $12.00 a year. Very little equipment was needed, and the office was established in the Walsh Tin and Hardware Shop. A sure sign of Crookston’s rapid development was evident ten years later when a successor to Mr. Walsh was needed, the salary had increased to $1800.00 a year. The post office had moved up to third class.

In 1879, it was decided that a building on Second and Main would be leased to use as the courthouse; the upper story was used as a courtroom and the ground floor was used for offices. O.P. Stearns was the presiding judge at the first term of district court held there in June. It was decided on January 4, 1881 that a new courthouse should be built.

In the summer of 1877, School District No. 1 had the first four months of summer school ever in Crookston. The same year (1877), it was decided that a new schoolhouse should be built that would cost a total of $4000 and a new bell should be purchased for the school. At the end of the school year, there were 105 students in attendance, an increase of 21 students in just one term.

The 1880s were a time of growth for Crookston. There were lots of hotels in town:

• The Commercial Hotel,
• Cleveland House,
• The Saint Louis Hotel,
• Germania Hotel,
• Northwest Hotel (also called the Lennox),
• The Minnesota House,
• Scandia House,
• The Hotel Crookston,
• The Montreal Hotel,
• The Wayne (also called the Palace).

There were factories ranging from a cigar factory to a foundry and machine shop,
a brewery to a planning mill and a sash and door factory. There were three hospitals: Bethesda, Saint Vincent’s, and Riverview. Many other businesses opened as Crookston continued to grow.

Mark Twain, the Great American Humorist, stopped at the Grand Opera House at the Crookston Hotel on July 29, 1895. He made three stops in Minnesota – Duluth, Minneapolis, and Crookston; it is believed that one of the reasons the Mark Twain stopped in Crookston was because of the Railroad. The North-Western Railroad and the Great Northern Railway both traveled between Minneapolis and Crookston daily except Sunday. At the time of his stop in Crookston, Twain was under the management of Major Pond. The cost to attend his lecture was $0.50, $0.75, or $1.00 per ticket. (courtesty of Polk County Historical Society, Winter issue newsletter, January 2003)

The railroad helped Crookston to become a prosperous city in the early years. The lumber industry was a major industry in Crookston for about 20 years. Due to financial problems at a Winnipeg firm, Crookston had the opportunity to step in. T. B. Walker built a milling plant in about 1880, but A. Hoover ran the first plant. The plant would manage the drive of cut logs. The mill provided work for many men. It ran until 1893; they were forced to shut down because Mr. Walker was unable to get the money he needed to purchase timber.

A machine shop and implement business was opened in Crookston in 1899. A.O. Espe established the business; he designed a gas tractor that was introduced in 1907. Just two years after he introduced his gas tractor, Espe built a new shop. He was manufacturing a four-plow tractor. Later, the manufacturing was done in Minneapolis on a contract.

It wasn’t until the 1950s and 60s that the agriculture industry that is here today was established. In 1955, the sugar refinery, American Crystal Sugar Company, was completed and the first sugar beet crops were processed the same year. Dahlgren Company, a sunflower plant, was started in the mid 60s.

In 1905, a parochial school was founded in Crookston. The Sisters of Saint Joseph of Bourg, France started the Saint Joseph’s Academy. The Sisters of Saint Benedict established a convent on the May 4th, fourteen years later (1919). In 1917, the first class graduated from the Cathedral School, which was started in 1910. Later the high school became the boys’ school and Mount Saint Benedict opened in 1939 as a girls’ school. In 1967, the boys joined the girls at Mount Saint Benedict, and the old high school building was no longer used.

A long-standing institution of Crookston, the Northwest School of Agriculture (NWSA) was started by an act of the state legislature in 1905. It was a four-year high school. William Robertson served as the school’s first superintendent. The Experiment Station was put into operation in 1885, and it served as the location for the NWSA. There were funds of $15,000 acquired for the construction and maintenance to operate the school in 1906.

Dr. Stanley Sahlstrom was named director of the University of Minnesota Technical Institute in 1965, a new college on the old NWSA campus. The first class graduated in 1968. The school offered two-years of technical education. The major areas of study were business, agriculture, and food service management. First year enrollment was 184 students.

In 1993, the Technical College changed over to a four-year college. Now, the University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC) is part of the University of Minnesota system. UMC is known today for being a laptop university; Wall Street Journal calls it, “the college of the future today”. Every full-time student receives their own laptop computer; almost every classroom has LAN connections for Internet access. UMC’s enrollment for spring semester 2002 was 2082 students.

Crookston still has a lot to offer today. We’re proud of our past and excited about our future. Picture yourself in Crookston; come visit soon!

The history was compiled by Megan Tollefson from the following sources:
- Joe Rolette’s Ox Carts brochure-by Nicole Krueger
- Crookston Diamond Jubilee -Crookston’s 75 years official souvenir program
- Crookston’s 90 Years (1879-1969)-souvenir magazine
- Footprints from the Past-Crookston’s centennial souvenir magazine (1879-1979)
- Northwest Minnesota Summer Fun-Summer 2002 Visitor’s Guide to Northwest Minnesota