6.2. HRSR 05-28-2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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• Chapter I Elk River Historic Contexts Introduction This historic contexts study was commissioned in 2002 by the Elk River Heritage Preservation Commission and the Elk River ,N„,„ ,Housing nd Redevelopment Authority. t was conducted by Zellie of Landscape Research.The results of the study will provide a framework for long-range heritage preservation porn�. r planning in the community. Report Organization Chapter I of the Historic Resources Study includes six Elk River historic contexts that analyze the historical and The Blanchette Hotel in ca. architectural development of the community.The contexts 1890.Once Elk River's leading begin with permanent Euro-American settlement in the 1850s downtown hotel. and extend to about 1950.Chapter II contains the results of a companion study,an intensive survey of the downtown commercial area and an inventory map. Methods The research was based on published histories such as N.H. • Winchell's History of the Upper MississippValley(1881),Edward Robinson's Early Economic Conditions and the Development of Agriculture in Minnesota(1915),historic maps,photos and aerial views,local newspapers,and federal census records. The files of the Sherburne County Historical Society provided much information compiled by local historians over the past eighty years.Windshield inventories compiled by the Minnesota Historical Society and the Sherburne County Historical Society (ca. 1980-1998)were also consulted. In addition to the Sherburne County Historical Society archives,the Minnesota Historical Society collections were a primary source of information.The City of Elk River also supplied maps and other materials. Of interest for future research are various manuscript collections at the Minnesota Historical Society related to early Elk River families.They include the papers of Charles Babcock, Ard Godfrey,W.H.Houlton,and John Q.A.Nickerson. A general windshield survey of Elk River accompanied the development of the historic contexts.Fieldwork in commercial district included an inventory of historic properties within an area bounded by the Mississippi River at the west, Highway 10 at the east and south,and Quincy Street at the north. The study was conducted in compliance with the Secretary of • the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archaeology and Historic Preservation.