Well, yesterday I decided to take my camera around town and snap some photos of the place I love best...my little town. We have lived here for about 38 years in the same house. We raised our 3 children here, 2 boys and a girl and after all this time I am still in love with my town. (recognized as a village). It is one hundred and forty years old and was settled in 1870 when three men came to this area from Norway and liked what they seen. They brought their families, built homes and began to farm near a creek. The men were Ole Knutson, his brother-in-law Nels Tollefson, and his son Tollef Nelson. (do you notice anything interesting about their names?) I am going to quote from the 'Cenntennial' book. "Nels Tollefson is said to be the first Norwegian settler in the Township. He settled on the west side of Pine Creek. His homestead consisted of 160 acres. Mr. Tollefson cleared 100 acres and built a set of log buildings which he later replaced by frame structures. Supplies had to be hauled by oxen or carried on foot from the next big town which was 50 miles away. (remember we didn't have much for roads back then and certainty no interstate highways.) On trips to the city he would influence friends to come join him in his newly found paradise. Often the family would awaken to find someone camping on their doorstep, and there was wall to wall people while another home was hewn out of the woods."
"Another pioneer who came to Dallas the same year was Knute Stenseth Amundson. He took a homestead of 160 acres of wild land in Section 2. In 1903 he sold part of his place to his son, John. In 1913 the house was destroyed by fire and a modern home was built in its place. He was married to Anna Wintrone and had nine children. they were Clara, Genard, Herman, Lloyd, Wallace, Griffin, Ben, Kenneth, and Lawrence." (my friend, Judy, I think the homestead was where you live now.) There is a lot more history to tell about and I will do so in the next part of the story in a future post. I am including photos of my town here.
My photo walk started out here. This house is one of the first homes built on our side of town in the late 1800s. It has had a few add-ons since that time. It is situated along the pond. This is a nice neighborhood with very friendly neighbors that you can count on.
Our flags flown from Memorial day until after the 4th of July.
One of many stain glass windows in the Lutheran Church.
Memorial Gardens at the church.
The old Farmers Store which now sells antiques.
Old wringer wash machine planter in front of the store.
Some of the old advertising on the side of the store.
Our community garden. The boxes are what some of the children planted. They even painted them. So cute!
The old egg factory which is now a brewery.
Well that is all for now but will post more photos as the story continues. It is so nice living in a town that you love so much, you could not imagine living any where else...like my town.
My goodness! I can't tell you how much I love this post!! All that history of the area and those great photos! So that means that Ben Amundson had cousins just down the road from the [now elderly] Wintrones. I should find an old plat book to find out where the neighborhood country school was. I know it was on Fifth Avenue, probably close to the field drive.
ReplyDeleteDid I already say how much I love your photos!! :-)
Deborah, THANK YOU SO MUCH for visiting my blog! Your words of encouragement are just what we need right now. Well, always... but especially now. Ours is a situation that we have never gone through before and boy, is it tough.
ReplyDeleteI love your post about your little town. I grew up in a small town in Texas and wish that I had photos of some of the old places. I will certainly be "tuning in" to read "the rest of the story". :-)
I remember the store as a kid and loved going there. The uneven wooden floors, Mr. and Mrs. (more Mrs.) checking you out at the register, I thought it was such a big store for such a little town. And I remember even to this day looking at your house and thinking it looks like a barn that was remodeled into a house. Very cute!
ReplyDeleteLove your post. Your little town looks wonderful. I love living in a small community. It is the best feeling.
ReplyDeleteThank you Judy for the comment on my photos. It was so much fun to go on the 'photo walk' and decide what to include. I have some good ones of the dam for a later post. Tami, my kids remember the BIG store with wood floors too and 'Mr.' standing behind them jingling the change in his pocket. :) Sunny Sue, I love your blog and I know how tough it can be. Thanks for visiting. Also thanks for visiting to Crystal and for the kind comment. :D
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous post! This is a great idea, I really enjoyed touring your town, thanks for showing me around :)
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