HPC DocumentsEMSherburne County
: Historical Society
May 18, 2005
To the attention of:
Steven Rohlf, Building and Environmental Administrator
City of Elk River
13065 Orono Parkway
Elk River, MN 55330
Dear Mr. Rohlf:
I am glad to inform that the fragment of the old floor from the recently
demolished "Elk River Municipal Utilities Building" has been accepted for incorporation
within SCHS museum collections.
Enclosed with this letter you will find the "Deed of Gift" acknowledging your
donation and along with a photocopy of it. At your earliest convenience, once you have
signed and dated the enclosed Deed of Gift please have it sent to my attention using the
self-addressed envelop. provided. Make sure that you keep the enclosed photocopy for
your records.
I wish to thank you and the City of Elk River authorities for considering
Sherburne County Historical Society to be the repository of such an important historical
item, and please do not hesitate to contact me on further donations at any given time.
Sincerely;
/w� f
Luis G. Vasque� Curator
Sherburne Coihnty Historical Society
13122 First St.
Becker, MN 55308
Off. 763 / 261-4433
Fax 763 / 261-4437
lvasquez@sherbtel.net
N Z?N MAY 2 0 W
SHERBURNE COUNTY HI
STORICAL SOCIETY OR
13122 First Street, Becker, MN 553o$
C;
DEED OF GIFT
Name: 4Z;,jEfz. 9—+L-if
Address: 13 S o - Wp-�
City:
v E 2 State: MN Zip: 55 3 3O
Phone: home:
work: -7 3 - C-55 - l�oo
I own the personal property described below and desire to give said personal property to the Museum. I do hereby irrevocably
and unconditionally give and transfer to the Museum all right, title, and interest, including all copyright, trademark, and related
interests, in and to the following described property.
I agree that this gift may be used for research, exhibition, or otherwise disposed of according to the Sherburne County Historical
Society policies and porcedures, except for those restrictions, if any, that have been approved by Sherburne County Historical
Society in advance and which are outlined below.
I understand that it is my responsibility, not the Society's, to establish the value of the gift if it is intended as a tax deduction.
Copies of the appraisal should be submitted to Sherburne County Historical Society for its records.
Description of Gift:
• ,4 F 9F FFM
(9T� tiiT�ES ��--DiNC, . `�+IE FL+-�Cnt-iEr1T 1►�1C1-Jr�Es A -FZt-C - "05XiC
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t..tSk ,c>oS: L. = 40.5" x NJ s Z7. S"
By my signature below I accept the foregoing conditions and acknowledge reading any attached information.
Dated:
s/y/s
G �r'ai �� �Gr/�•�
Donor/agent
Donor/agent
THE GIFT DESCRIBED ABOVE IS ACCEPTED FOR
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SHERBURNE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
By•(/.4 /�� �ZAKA704,
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Accession#2Co5-p26
Thursday
October 19, 2006
7:00 p.m.
Location of Program:
Sherburne History Center
10775 27th Ave SE
Becker, MN 55308
Refreshments will be
served.
Sherburne History Center
10775 27th Ave SE
Becker, MN 55308
Phone: 763-261-4433 or 763-
262-4433 (metro line)
Fax: 763-261-4437
Email: schs@izoom.net
Sherburneffistory
,Join us as Duane
Hall, manager of
radiological
physics at the
Elk River plant,
shares his
recollections of
this unique
facility.
7:00 p.m.
Short business meeting including election of officers followed
by our featured speaker:
Duane C. Hall
Hear about the historic 1960s Elk River nuclear plant
from one of the men who worked there. Dismantled in
1974, the reactor was one of a kind and the first in the
country to serve a rural area.
Call Sherburne History Center at 763 261-4433 or 763 262-
4433 (metro) for more information.
Herman Greu ner
Author: Amanda Fox Date: 12 Mar 2001 12:00 PM GMT
Surnames: Greupner, Schmiege
Classification: Biography
surnames in this article: Greupner, Brandt, Wheaton, Houlton, Libby, Schmiege, Bishop.
From newspaper in Elk River, Sherburne Co., MN.
Thursday, January 12, 1933.
Elk River Historical Sketches - Herman Greupner.
"Herman Greupner, the veteran shoemaker and dealer, is the oldest active business
man in the village of Elk River, having come here 49 years ago this spring and having
been continually in business since that time. During these long years he has suffered
complete loss of his business by fire on two different occasions, but each time has
come through, with renewed faith in the future of Elk River, to start again. He has been
an active worker for the good of the community and has always done his share in every
civic enterprise.
The following historical sketch was contributed by Mr. Greupner himself, and will be of
great interest to the readers to the Star News:
I was born and brought up on a small farm near the city of Neumarkt in the province of
Silesia and I attended the public school there until the age of fourteen. For the next
three years I was engaged as an apprentice at Neumarkt to learn the trade of making
boots and shoes. After receiving my papers as a journeyman I worked right along at the
trade for the next three years in different towns until I was obliged to serve my time in
the army.
After being released as a reserve I again worked in Berlin for three years for large
concerns doing custom work only. After that, in June, 1883, 1 made up my mind to
emigrate to the United State of America, to a country where at that time one could find
many better opportunities. I boarded a ship at Hamburg, and arrived in New York the
middle of July. I stayed there about six days with plenty of chances to go to work, but I
could not accept them, because I wasn't accustomed to the extreme heat, the
temperature being about 103 degrees in the shade, so I boared a train for Chicago. Not
finding that city to my liking I stayed only one day and moved on to St. Paul, a place that
appealed to me. After looking around for a month I found a job at a shoe factory, where
I stayed only two months, as this work wasn't very pleasant for me. Next I obtained work
in a custom shop at Eau Claire, Wis., doing custom work that winter for a firm called "F.
A. Fast."
In the spring of 1884 1 went to St. Paul and at one of the leather houses was informed
that M. L. Brandt of Elk River had a chance in his harness shop for a shoemaker to start
a shop for himself. So I came to Elk River April 5, 1884, and decided to try my luck here.
This shop stood next to Henry Wheaton's general store. I stayed with Mr. Brandt one
year and then W. H. Houlton built a new shop for me on the Princeton road. When my
business increased makina dress shoes for the "best oeoole" of Elk River. I moved to a
larger place near the postoffice, where Joe Libby was postmaster. I bought the building
vacated and had it moved up on Princeton street and made into a home for the man
who was working for me, Carl Schmiege. This is still standing and is now the property of
Mrs. Mary Bishop. On May 19, 1892, 1 married Miss Matilda Schmiege, of Burns, and
also settled on Princeton street in the home we occupy to this day.
On April 25, 1898, when the whole business section on the north side of the railroad
tracks was destroyed by fire my place was the last one to burn. I had no insurance, but
with the help of my friends and the good will of my customers, I stared again on a small
scale. Then Amos Houlton built a nice new shop for me on the old site where I stayed
until 1901, when all the business places changed from the north to the south side.
Then I also moved to the south side of the tracks into the one story block built by W. H.
Houlton. For the next few years I was kept very busy making river drivers' shoes,
repairing and selling new shoes and rubbers.
By 1910, when on New Years night this block was completely destroyed by fire, I had
accumulated a very nice stock of goods and tools, but I didn't save as much as a
pegging awl. This happened to be an extremely cold winter and I could not do much in
the temporary location. Mr. Houlton rebuilt to one story brick block and I rented the store
we occupy today. Having insurance on part of my goods, i again made a new start. I
discontinued making new shoes and put all my efforts into repairing and into the retail
business. The beautiful view of the Mississippi river at our back door has helped many a
weary task throughout these years.
But without the help of my good friends, the loyal support of my customers and the
interest of my own family, I could not have built up the business. Fred and Will, my two
sons, have been working in the stre ever since they were old enough and are with me
today.
We hope to carry on this business to the best interest of the entire community in the
future as I have tried to do in the past.
Even today, however, there's something nostalgic about watching Bill and Fred fixing
shoes. Even installing new composition half soles and heels, or sewing up a small rip,
requires much of the skill that old Herman Greupner brought with him from Germany
[Source: Sherburne County Minnesota Genealogy. Part of The Minnesota GenWeb
Project.]
Sherburne County Minnesota Genealogy
Part of
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