USA > Minnesota > Rice County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. I > Part 40
USA > Minnesota > Steele County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. I > Part 40
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Faribault is unexcelled in its religious privileges. It has handsome churches and large congregations of almost every denomination : Baptist. Congregational, three Catholic churches, Immaculate Conception, English ; St. Lawrence, German's Saered Heart, French; two Episcopal churches, the Cathedral of Our Merciful Saviour and Shumway Memorial chapel at Shattuck school; Zion church, Evangelist Association of North America, five Lutheran churches: German Evangelical, Immanuel Evan- gelical, Norwegian, Immanuel Markus Norwegian Lutheran and
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Trinity Evangelical, German ; two Methodist Episcopal churches, English and German.
Aside from the splendid park system, connected with the private and state school, covering little less than 200 acres, Fari- bault has a well kept and well shaded park in the center of the city, covering one block and adjoining it are the grounds of the high school, another full block, set with shade trees and hand- somely ornamented with walks and flower beds. It also has several small parks for ornamentation and to give people a place to rest and children a place to play. Outside of its school buildings and churches and business houses, Faribault has the Rice county court house, a handsome building standing alone in a full square almost in the center of the city. In the grounds which have been artistically designed is a fountain. Faribault has its own city building. a substantial, well designed structure for the use of council, mayor and city officials. It also has an engine house well arranged and commodious. The city is abundantly provided with automobiles, private and public, and three garages have all they can attend to.
During the present summer Faribault has paved eleven of its business blocks with Barr bricks and Kettle river sandstone, and has changed from overhead electric lighting to a brilliant system of curb lighting, having all poles removed from the streets and the wires placed underground. The lighting system has ten posts, with three lights each, to the block five upon each side of the street. The paving and the new system of lights are a most noticeable improvement to the appearance of the city.
Faribault is admitted by our visitors to be a beautiful city with its material advantages and modern improvements, and words of praise are heard from many lips.
The city has a well organized commercial club with a large membership; it has a public library of 14,000 volumes, including public records, and its building is of modern design and very handsome and erected for the purpose for which it is used, Mr. Frank E. Little, agent for the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, of Newark, N. J., giving $20.000 for that purpose. the balance of the cost, $15,000, being provided by the city.
Faribault has one of the best water works systems in Minne- sota, its supply being drawn from an artesian well. Its fire depart -. ment is unsurpassed for its efficiency. The city has three well managed banks with a combined capital of $155,000, the Citizens' National Bank, the Security State Bank and the Chase State Bank. The surplus and individual profits of these banks amount to $68,600 and they carry large deposits.
Faribault has a modern and well appointed opera house, erected at a cost of $40.000, and several commodious audience
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halls, also a large armory which provides quarters for its excellent militia organization, Company B, Second Regiment, M. N. G. It has the usual number of fraternal societies, the three orders of Masonry owning their own hall and are part owners of the large three story block in which it is located, and the Elks' organiza- tion is planning to erect a handsome building which will provide that order with a home. It has a large golf club and club house, and three flourishing literary clubs, the Travelers, the Monday and the Samovar, and there is apparently nothing lacking in its business, amusement, social, educational and religious constitu- tions that its citizens are not rapidly supplying. It has four hotels, the Brunswick, the New York, the Commercial and the Superior.
Last, but not least, Faribault has five weekly newspapers given below in the order of their establishment: "Faribault Republican," "Faribault Democrat," "Faribault Pilot," "Fari- bault Referendum," "Faribault Journal." Besides these it has several school papers which are well printed and conducted. The "Companion," published at the Minnesota School for the Deaf, the "North Star." published at the Minnesota School for the Feeble-Minded, and "The Shad," published by the students of Shattuck school.
During the past summer much building has been done, includ- ing a new Rice county jail at a cost of $45,000; a new city lockup, at a cost of $18,000; a beautiful auditorium for the Minnesota School for the Deaf, and one of the finest hospitals in Minnesota, the St. Lucas, has but recently been added to the more useful structures erected for the benefit of humanity.
Faribault is a conservative city but it does not hesitate to provide for its needs and for the convenience and comfort of its citizens. It is surrounded by the richest, most reliable agricul- tural country in the world which has never experienced a crop failure since white men first came here with plow and hoe. It is composed of forest and wood land in about equal parts ; has an abundance of lakes and streams, and a population worthy of the blessings nature has given theni .- A. E. Haven.
FARIBAULT LIBRARY AND CITY HALL.
The Faribault city hall and library was formally opened January 1, 1898. The building which is of a modified Renaissance style, is square and bold in design, with quiet richness which appeals to the artistic eye. The size is 611/2 x 7312, three stories and a basement in height. The basement is built of red sand- stone. The walls are of dark red, St. Louis hydraulic pressed brick. The steps and columns are Ortonville granite. The
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entrances are floored with mosaic tiling. The architraves of the windows, the roof cresting and balustrades of the balconies are of stucco. A brick wall extending from basement to roof, sepa- rates the library and city hall. The public library occupies the south half of the building. The building is finished throughout in red oak, the floors being Georgia pine. The walls are hard finished tinted plaster. The ceilings and sidewalls being finished with designs in stucco. Harry W. Jones, of Minneapolis, pre- pared the plans and specifications. The construction was done by the day under the superintendence of C. H. Peltier. The woodwork of the library was done by Brown & Buer, and that of the city hall by J. H. O'Connell. E. M. Leach & Son furnishing the mill work. Carufel & Hatch did the plumbing, while Eardley & Bailey supplied the steam boiler and the radiators.
At the formal opening, Hon. B. B. Sheffield, former mayor of Faribault, delivered an address which gave the history of the undertaking. His address in part follows: "The ground upon which the building now stands was purchased from the city in 1891 for a market place, but proving too small and entirely inade- quate for the purpose, the property was allowed to remain vacant during the three following years. On the record of the minutes, of the Faribault council, June 11, 1894, appears the following entry: 'F. E. Little presented a proposition on the part of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company of Newark, N. J., to erect for the use and benefit of the city of Faribault, on the lots corner of First avenue and Second street. a building to be used as a city hall and library to cost not less than $30,000, on condi- tion that the said company succeed in writing $700,000 on insur- ance in Faribault, and the city council accepted the proposition ; the building to be erected at the expense of said company and delivered to the city free of all incumbrance. On motion the council voted to refer the proposition to a committee of three, with power to accept or reject the same. Aldermen Hawley, Cavanaugh and Tuttle were appointed on this committee.' Tues- day, June 11, the committee recommended the acceptance of Mr. Little's proposition. On page 261, of the records appears this entry : 'The common council of the city of Faribault met in special session in council chambers September 1, 1894, Mayor Sheffield presiding. Present were Aldermen Cavanaugh, Kaiser, Emery, Reynolds, Ruge and Winter. On motion the mayor and city attorney were authorized to accept bonds of F. E. Little with satisfactory sureties for the sum of $8,000, to indemnify the city against loss or damage in the matter of erecting city hall. Mr. Little presented plans, for the building, and they were approved by the council, subject to minor changes.'
FARIBAULT CITY HALL AND LIBRARY
T4
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"This is a brief formal record of the acceptance of the propo- sition, leading to the erection of this building. At that time the members of the council seriously doubted Mr. Little's ability to carry out his undertaking and no steps were taken until they were assured of the hearty approval and the unanimity of the leading tax payers and citizens ; and no ground was broken until Mr. Little had filed a bond signed by ten of the prominent citizens indemnifying against loss in case the work should be allowed to stop at a point which would entail greater damage to the property than would be offset by the benefit to the city. It is a well known fact that the solicitor of a life insurance company gets for his commission from 50 to 75 per cent of the first year's premiums and had Mr. Little succeeded in writing the $700,000 in policies he would have been able to carry out his plans with at least no loss to himself. When he had secured pledges for half of the required amount he announced his readiness to com- mence the work. The plans for the building had been prepared by Harry Jones. One morning in September, Mr. Jones, Mr. Little, Mr. Emery and myself (B. B. Sheffield) selected the site on the lot, the stakes were driven, and that same day the ground broken. The work went on. Mr. Little was unable to secure the amount in insurance he had reckoned upon. His means became exhausted. He mortgaged his personal property to pay for material and labor, and finally expending over $20,000, itemized vouchers for which he submitted to the council, and to which I can bear witness, he reluctantly admitted that ruined in purse and broken in spirit, he was unable to carry on his undertaking." The work was completed by the city.
First Library. Early in 1856 or late summer of 1885, Dr. L. W. Leighton located here and opened his office, carrying a few staple drugs in the building standing nearly opposite the Brunswick hotel. In those days there was little business for a doctor and Leighton eked out his rather slender income with a circulating library. There was a brisk demand for the few books he was able to keep, up to and including the winter of 1858-59. His wife dying about that time, Dr. Leighton left the state. The present library and reading room occupying a building of architectural beauty and finish second to none in the state, originated with a few ladies of the parish led by Miss S. P. Darlington, first principal of St. Mary's hall. The first books were purchased with funds raised by strawberry festivals and like entertainments, but no organization was perfected until Samuel H. Jaques, of Philadelphia, arrived in Faribault and began what he meant to be his life's work, the establishment and mainte- nance of a library and free reading rooms in Faribault. Under his management the institution was prosperous and growing in
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general favor. After his death it was kept up by a few young business men at a personal expense of from $75 to $100 each until the heirs of Mr. Jaques discovered on his books a balance of several hundred dollars against the library for cash advanced for its support, which Mr. Jaques would have never called for if he had lived. The authorities controlling the library offered to turn over all property to any society that would incorporate and assume the debt. Judge John M. Berry interested himself in the matter and the present library and reading rooms were incor- porated under articles drawn by him, and for some years after were in charge of Augusta C. Lowell, who acted as librarian until her death.
County Court House. The court house of Rice county is a beautiful building located in block 43, Faribault, and erected in 1873-74 at a cost of about $50,000. Incidents of the location of the county buildings are related elsewhere by F. W. Frink. Jan- mary 5, 1856, the county seat was located by the commissioners in section 31, township 110, range 20. This was amended by the addition of the south half of section 30. April 10. 1856, order number 7, was ordered drawn to James Shields for lots 6 and 7, block 43, in the town of Faribault, for the purpose of erecting a public building. The county commissioners selected as a site for the county buildings, lots 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, block 43, in the town of Faribault, the same being surveyed by B. Densmore. April 11, the board of county commissioners procured a site for the court house and other buildings. The site selected for the county buildings, lots 8, 9 and 10, block 43, was quit claimed by Amos B. Wattles, in consideration of the sum of $55 and purchased of the proprietors of the town of Faribault for $125 making in all $180 for the two lots. January 9, 1857, it was voted to call for bids for the erection of the register of deeds and treas- nrer's office and county jail. August 4. the contract was let to Josiah Dickerson at $2,050. This building was used for the offices. Later a jail was built in the same block, the offices and the jail serving until the erection of the present court house in 1873-74. The north part of the block. lots 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 was acquired later than the south part. June 9, 1873, the county acquired blocks 4 and 5 from Randall Fuller and John B. Braley for $2.000. September 24, 1867, an undivided half of lot 2 was purchased from Moses E. Webb for $700. On the thirtieth of the same month, the other undivided half of the same lot was pur- chased from William H. Dike for $800. October 5, 1867. lot 3 was purchased from Jerome Madden for $2,400. August 19, 1868, lot 1 was purchased from Samuel J. Clemans for $1,200. The story of the selection of the location is told by F. W. Frink, elsewhere.
RICE COUNTY COURT HOUSE
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County Jail. The property now occupied by the county jail was purchased from Patrick MeGreery, June 12, 1873, for $5,000. At the same time the city purchased the present fire house prop- erty, and the county subsequently sold the city a small strip of the jail property also. A jail was built on the rear of the residence, and was several times remodeled and improved, the most notable enlargement occurring June 24, 1890. Until 1910, the jail was used by the county for a county jail and by the city for a municipal lockup. The jail and the dual system were not satisfactory to the board of control, and January, 1910, Judge Thomas S. Buckham, and the state board of control served notice that the jail was to be condemned. The commissioners therefore at once decided to erect a new jail, and sheriff's residence. For this purpose a tax levy of $18,000 was laid. Albert Schippel, of Mankato, was the architect. The new building is of artistic face brick, furnished by the Twin City Brick Company, and of Kettle river cut stone. The contract was let to William O'Neil & Son, of Faribault, the contract price being $25,751. The sheriff's residence contains nine rooms, and the jail sixteen cells, being equipped with all the modern arrangements of an institution of this kind. The contract for the steel work was let to the Stewart Jail Works Company, the heating and plumbing to P. J. Gal- lagher, the electrical work to Kingsley and Payant. The building is one of which the county may well be proud. The first appro- priation was made for a county jail and offices, January 9, 1857, the basement of the building to be used as a jail. The building was erected in the block in which the court house is now located, but was used very little, if any, for a jail. The jail was later erected of heavily nailed boards in the same block, and was used until the present jail property was purchased from McGreery.
City Jail. From the incorporation of the city until 1910, the city prisoners were housed in the county jail. This method was disapproved by the state board of control, and when the new county jail was started in 1910, the city also started the municipal jail. The jail is a brick structure, located just north of the city hall, and was built by John P. O'Neil at a contract price of $7.800. It contains six cages, and a tramp and women's room.
Firemen's Hall. The property occupied by the present fire house was purchased in 1872. The present fire house was erected in 1876, and for a time was practically the city hall, the upper floor being used for the city officers. The upper floor is now used as a home for the firemen, while the lower story houses the horses and the fire apparatus. The building is of brick, surmounted with a cupola and a bell. The old fire building which was located on First avenue between Third and Fourth streets was torn down in 1898.
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Central Park occupies all of block 17, of the original plat of Faribault, and was set aside as city property, February 6, 1855, by the proprietors, Alexander Faribault, F. B. Sibley, J. W. North and Porter Nutting. The park is well kept and is set with native trees. A fountain, erected several years ago, has been removed, as it proved dangerous to pedestrians.
Faribault Park fills all of the triangular block 7 in the southern addition to Faribault. It was set aside for public purposes by Alexander Faribault, May 1, 1856. The park has been graded and set to trees, and it is hoped by a number of leading citizens that it will some time be graced with a statue of Alexander Faribault.
Railroads. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, the Chicago & Great Western, and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, all operate lines in Faribault. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul owns the line built through here by the Minnesota Railway Com- pany late in 1865 and early in 1866. In 1903, a down town branch of the road was laid, and the same year the line from Faribault to Wabasha was opened. Previous to that date the line had been a narrow gauge road, extending westward from Wabasha into Goodhue county, but did not reach Faribault.
The Chicago & Great Western was built through here as the Cannon Valley railroad in 1882, and the first train was run October 20.
The Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway Com- pany awarded a contract to Donald Grant to build a line through here July 18, 1900. The line was open for traffic January 1, 1902, but trains were running a few days previous to that date. The line is now operated by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific.
An earlier history has said of the Minneapolis & Cedar Valley Railroad: "The seventh territorial legislature of Minnesota. granted a charter which was approved in March, 1856, for a railroad from the Iowa state line, near where the Red Cedar crosses it, thence up the Cedar valley, along the Straight river valley, and through the 'big woods' to Minneapolis, a distance of 100 miles. General H. H. Sibley, of Mendota : Gen. James Shields, of Faribault ; Franklin Steele, of Ft. Snelling : F. Pettit and Judge Alanson B. Vaughn, were named as commissioners to open subscription books and to make arrangements for the perma- nent organization of the company at Faribault. This, according to the act, was to be done before March 1, 1857. The gentlemen succeeded in securing stock subscriptions to the amount of $200,000 and a preliminary meeting was held in the office of Shields & Mccutcheon on Wednesday evening, January 28, 1856, and a resolution was entertained to called a meeting of the
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citizens to see how materially they were interested in the project. In response to this incitation, the meeting took place in Crump's hall which was crowded. Dr. Charles Jewett was called to preside and R. A. Mott was appointed secretary. Speeches were made by Dr. Jewett, M. L. Noble and others. A letter was read from General Shields, who was in Washington. In 1862, an act of congress was secured to facilitate the construction of the road. In 1864 the nearest place to the railroad was at Rochester and a stage coach was arranged to connect there. After passing through various vicissitudes the road became the Minnesota Railway Company, and under this name was put in operation in 1865. Later it was absorbed by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul."
The Green Bay, Wabasha & Faribault Railroad Company was projected in 1871, but was never built.
The rivalry attending the building of the present Chicago, Great Western is related elsewhere.
The St. Lucas Deaconess Hospital, under the charge of the Evangelischer Diakonessen Verein, of the Minnesota District of the German Evangelical Synod of North America, was erected in 1908, on East Division street, at a cost of $70,000. The land was contributed by the city, by the heirs of Hudson and Sarah B. Wilson, and by the city deeded to the Evangelischer Diakonessen Verein. The city also donated $10,000. The building was dedi- cated May 16, 1909. Beds are provided for thirty. Up to the present time 350 patients have been cared for at the hospital irrespective of creed. The building is modern in every detail and as fire proof as modern methods can make it. A staff of eight physicians and surgeons is connected with the hospital and many remarkable operations have been performed. There are at present seven deaconesses connected with the hospital. The head deaconess is Sister Caroline and the superintendent is Rev. W. Meyer. The decision to locate a hospital in Faribault was reached at the 1907 conference of the Minnesota district held at Eoyta, Minn. Accessibility and other advantages were the reasons why Faribault was selected from many cities as the location for this institution. The deaconesses of the Evangelical church were organized in the last century in Germany. In Europe the order has ninety deaconess mother houses, and the number of deaconesses is about 20,000. The deaconesses have many homes and hospitals throughout the United States also, especially in the larger cities. The mother house of the American Evangelical German Lutheran church is located in St. Louis.
City Lighting. The streets of Faribault are lighted by con- tract with the Consumers' Power Company. The beautiful light- ing of Central avenue is described elsewhere. The Faribault
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Gas Light Company was organized in 1873. The first street light was erected in 1879, when a single post was put up by the company at the corner of First avenue and Second street. In September, 1879, a contract was made by the city for eight lamps, six to be on Central avenue and two on First, to burn all night at $288 per year. In 1881, the contract having expired, the city was without lights for eight months, and in the fall a new contract was made for sixteen lights to burn all night at $3 per light per month, or $576 per year. In 1889 the Gas Company sold its property and franchise to the Faribault Consolidated Gas and Electric Company. The Polar Star Electric Company went into operation in March, 1895. This company was later given the street lighting contract. In 1910, both of these companies passed into the control of the Consumers' Power Company. The city fathers complained of the service it received in 1908, and refused to pay the bill for street lights from February 1, to August 31. The matter was compromised by the payment of one- half the bill rendered for that period. The Consumers' Power Company is owned by H. M. Byllesby & Co., of Chicago, and the local manager is B. W. Cowperthwait.
Street Names. Formerly the streets of Faribault were named as follows: The east and west street, crossing the river at the uppermost point was Front street, and south of this, in the same direction were Hickory, Pine, and South streets. North of Front, the streets were numbered consecutively, First, Second, and so on up to Fifteenth, which was at the confluence of the two rivers. The north and south streets were Main, the principal business street, which, commencing at the south end, went north to near the junction of the two rivers. Willow was cast of this, and next to the river : next was Water, which, on account of a curve in the river, was on both sides of it, then cante Oak, Walnut, Vine and Ash. On this side the Hastings' road was a continuation of Second street which deflected to the left. West of Main street, and parallel with it, the streets were Elm, Chestnut, Maple, Cherry, Cedar, Plum, Sycamore and Buckeye, which was next cast of the railroad. West of the railroad were Irving, Cross and Lincoln streets. This represented the street system of Fari- bault. At the present time the Philadelphia system of numbered streets and avenues is used in the central portion of the city. names still being given to the streets in the outskirts.
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