Winsted, Minnesota
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Winsted is a city located in McLeod County, Minnesota. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 2,094.
City Officials:
Mayor: Don Guggemos Council: Tom Ollig, Bonnie Quast, Gerald Boldt and Tom Wiemiller Administrator: Brent Mareck Clerk Treasurer: Deb Boelter Police Chief: Mike Henrich Fire Chief: Paul Herbolsheimer Maintenance Leads: Dave Meyer and Jamie Stotko
Official City Website: www.winsted.mn.us
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History
We'll never know the Indian name for a certain lake located within Chahn-tonka, which translated means the "Big Woods." During hunting seasons, Sioux Indians traveled from their villages to that lake to set up camp near its eastern shore beyond the point of land that juts into the water. Generations afterward, people of another culture could still find stone arrowheads and pieces of broken pottery bowls left behind when they broke camp. Other hunters and trappers passed through from time to time, too. As the land was being mapped into counties, white families were coming to natural clearings west of the Big Woods where two small settlements had been named Glencoe and Hutchinson.
At almost the same time, people from St. Anthony (now part of Minneapolis) established a settlement toward the east from our lake and called it Rapid Waters, but soon changed the name to Watertown. In that group were members of a Lewis family, including Caleb and his sons, Isaac I. (top photo), Eli F. (lower photo), and Eli's wife Eleanor. Her father, Ira Kingsley, was a doctor and had served as St. Anthony's first treasurer and justice of the peace, and he was almost certainly with that group.
Meanwhile, in accordance with U.S.-Indian treaties, the government was in the process of paying persons of mixed ancestry for land along the Mississippi near Lake Pepin that had been granted to them previously, thus opening that land to white settlers. The payments were not made in money, but in certificates called Indian scrip. Each certificate was worth a total of 480 acres (1.9 km²) and could be used as payment for any vacant public land, whether surveyed or not.
Indian scrip was not intended to be sold, transferred or assigned, but, nevertheless, that often happened. So it was with scrip issued to one Baptiste Campbell. In May 1857, in Ramsey County, Baptiste granted to Joseph P. Wilson his power of attorney to sell and convey real estate. Two months later in Hennepin County, Baptiste, by his attorney-in-fact Joseph P. Wilson, was paid $2,000 by Isaac I. Lewis for land in Section 11, Township 117N, Range 27W, a nameless description that is no doubt familiar to current Winsted residents.
The Lewises, now owners of a prospective townsite, must have discussed names for the place. Old timers of the past remembered hearing the name Lake Eleanor, for Eleanor Kingsley Lewis, had been considered. They must have decided on the name Winsted, for Eli's hometown in Connecticut, on or before April 5, 1858, the date McLeod County's townships were officially named. For a few months, legal ownership of all or parts of the property changed hands within the family - from Isaac Lewis to Caleb Lewis to Ira Kingsley to Eleanor Lewis.
Past accounts indicate that Caleb and Isaac concentrated their energies more on Watertown while Eli's and Eleanor's interests were in Winsted. Eli has generally been credited as its founding father, and surely Eleanor was its founding mother.
The Lewis home was a large log one, built somewhat east of where Dairy Farmers of America stands now on First Street North. Basic schooling was taught under their roof until the public school was built in 1867. Protestant services were sometimes held there - perhaps traveling preachers included Winsted in their rounds. In 1866, Mr. and Mrs. Fritz Moy and Mr. and Mrs. Ernst Miller appeared on the scene, coming from Waconia where they'd been living. The two wives were sisters, and the couples lived together in the same house, its location not known now. They brought with them machinery for a sawmill and an engine from an old Mississippi river steamboat. The combined skills of the Millers and the Lewises put the sawmill into operation. Fritz and Ernst bought some of the town land and Fritz built a store where Tom's Corner Bar is now located (northeast corner of Main Street and First Avenue North).
One old account tells that he carried his goods from Shakopee and often had to sleep overnight in the woods. Years later, fire destroyed his store. He rebuilt, on the same location, a much larger brick building, as it is at present beneath its modernized exterior. Ernst later operated a hotel and hardware store.
1868 brought Mr. and Mrs. David Vollmer from nearby Watertown, where they'd been living. He had milling experience from working in a St. Paul mill before the Civil War. David, with short-term partner Mathias Flakker of St. Paul, bought a parcel of the land and the sawmill, added a flour mill, and combined them in a building whose location is marked by Mill Reserve Park.
All this time, farmers continued to pour in all over the midwest. Some held their land through pre-emption privilege and more because of the Homestead Act, that put land within the reach of almost everyone.
Those in the Big Woods had a tough time clearing the dense timber in order to plant. Some say it took one man a years' hard labor to clear one acre (4,000 m²).
In 1860, Winsted Township had 137 acres (554,000 m²) of improved land and on it raised 377 bushels (13 m³) of wheat and 1,005 bushels (35 m³) of corn that year.
Logs piled up. Many were burned. The few roads were muddy, so logs were kept until there was enough snow for farm sleds, then they were hauled to the mill.
Oxen were preferred over horses for this job because they can pull heavier loads and need less feed. The sawmill turned out over a million board feet per season, all to be recycled into building houses, barns etc. in the area.
Ashes from some of the burned timber were used in an ashery that Eli Lewis built on the site of present Dairy Farmers of America. The process produced lye useful in making soap, but beyond that the writer has no knowledge.
However, it's interesting to note that the first patent granted by the United States was in 1790 for "Improvement, not known before such discovery, in the making of Pot ash and Pearl ash by a new Apparatus and Process." Pictures of the mill have appeared from time to time in various publications and differ so much that they are confusing. The first mill building was situated with its roof peak at right angles to the lakeshore.
It burned in 1876 and was immediately replaced by what was to be the last mill building, built with roof peak parallel to the shore. Its outward appearance changed as convenience and improvements in the milling process required. Some of these changes were explained by people who had first-hand knowledge of them. The Mississippi riverboat steam engine was replaced by a Harris-Corliss 50 horsepower (37 kW) steam engine, whose 10 foot (3 m) flywheel is stored on private property in Winsted. A plane-sifter, modern at the time, was installed to sieve out bran and larger particles that included the gluten part of the wheat kernel (called midlings). Without this step, flour from spring wheat was speckled and turned rancid rather quickly.
Next came a midlings purifier that essentially re-ground the gluten that, ground again into the flour, produced a more nutritious product.
All this grinding and re-grinding wore down the millstones so that fine grit became mixed into the flour. The circular, corrugated millstones were retired, and six sets of steel rollers were installed. They were set to grind progressively finer by the "gradual reduction method," as it was called. The roller invention was used in Minneapolis mills around 1880 and spread quickly.
Up to the time of the rollers, the mill was known as Winsted Lake Mills, Winsted Mill, and sometimes, as the Vollmer Mill. Now it became Winsted Roller Mills, and it, as did mills in many other towns, advertised by their name that they were "modern." At Winsted, top production was 75 198-pound (90 kg) barrels per 24 hours. Some of it was shipped (after the railroad reached Lester Prairie) to the Twin Cities under the brand name Oak Leaf Flour. To accommodate improvements, at one point the roof of the mill was raised and a two-story building became a three-story. Other old pictures show a cupola perched on the center roof; the smokestack was heightened and later lowered again; a porch-type roof was attached at the front for a time.
At a later time, around 1908, the mill had a steam whistle that was blown at noon hour. It was always the same building, and it burned in 1923, a fire believed caused by spontaneous combustion of flour dust. Farmers bringing grain to the mill could wait while it was ground (and perhaps shop in Fritz Moy's store?). If weather was bad, their animals were tied in a shed/stable located a little northeast of the present rest station in the park. Later, Fritz built a livery barn north of it.
As mentioned earlier, a public school house was built in 1867. For a time, it served as Sunday meeting place for the Protestant congregation, who organized the Presbyterian church in 1878 and completed their church building in 1881 it stands plain and stalwart although empty at present. Those of the Catholic faith built the first Church of the Holy Trinity in 1869 on the site where the present building was erected in 1887.
1882 saw the laying of the cornerstone of St. John's Lutheran Church and the first building was completed the following year. In 1890, Winsted's population was 267 and Winsted township was 1,251. Jan. 1, 1896 witnessed the dedication of the brand new City Hall and, presumably, some of the celebrants were already wondering what changes the 20th century would bring. At present, idled by time and weather, the future of that building hasn't been decided. In 1900, Winsted's population was 281 and Winsted township was 1,185.
Epilogue
Baptiste Campbell was one of the 38 tried and found guilty after the 1862 Sioux uprising and battles at New Ulm and other points near the Minnesota River. They were executed (hung) at Mankato in December 1862. Eleanor Kingsley Lewis (born 1821) died at Winsted in 1871. Ira Kingsley (born 1788) died in 1866 at Watertown. They are both buried in Winsted Public Cemetery (thought to be Block 3 Lot 19).
Eli and Isaac Lewis left Minnesota around 1883 for Idaho where they were engaged in silver mining. Eli is buried in Watertown. Eli's and Eleanor's son, Ira Kingsley Lewis, became a lawyer and was Winsted's town clerk and recorder. Around 1980, Winsted changed the names of two of its streets. Old East Street became Kingsley Street and old South Avenue became Lewis Avenue.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.5 km² (1.4 mi²). 3.5 km² (1.4 mi²) of it is land and none of it is covered by water.
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there are 2,094 people, 822 households, and 535 families residing in the city. The population density is 598.9/km² (1,549.9/mi²). There are 847 housing units at an average density of 242.2/km² (626.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 98.42% White, 0.19% African American, 0.24% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 0.19% from other races, and 0.57% from two or more races. 0.62% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 822 households out of which 35.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.0% are married couples living together, 10.0% have a female householder with no husband present, and 34.8% are non-families. 28.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 12.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.45 and the average family size is 3.04.
In the city the population is spread out with 27.0% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 29.5% from 25 to 44, 18.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 35 years. For every 100 females there are 91.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 88.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $41,588, and the median income for a family is $50,272. Males have a median income of $32,929 versus $23,571 for females. The per capita income for the city is $19,896. 5.4% of the population and 3.2% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 6.8% of those under the age of 18 and 8.4% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.