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Elk River before Electricity Between 1848, when the first trading post was erected, and 1881, when the Village of Elk River was incorporated,two separate communities were established along the Elk River near its confluence with the Mississippi: Elk River("Lower Town") and, about a half mile upstream, "Upper Town,"also known as Orono. From the beginning, settlers were attracted by the area's waterpower. The first dam and sawmill were built in 1851 at Orono by Ard Godfrey,who three years before had completed the first private sawmill at Saint Anthony Falls, birthplace of Minneapolis.' An early Elk River settler reminisced about the area's activities in the 1870s: Here we find a well-developed water power with wheels turning one of the most valuable industries in the community—a flour mill. . . . On this same water power Galley& Baltzell carried on a chair factory of no mean dimensions. . . . In the same building H.E. Thomas made broom handles and for a time Joseph Featherston made staves for tight barrel work.2 The timber crib dam at Orono additionally served as a bridge over the Elk River where the new Main r �, Street bridge now stands. Lumber, t It , , ,.,r , '11 cel woo No planing, flour, and gristmills were - also built at Lower Town, near the -, � - .-= � "'" Ayr, '11 present location of the central business district.3 This initial development was typical of many Minnesota communities,where milling was essential to local ►•o Sib, A --� 47" subsistence in the years before railroads were built. The timber crib clam at Orono, ca. 1870. In comparing the overall prosperity of (Minnesota Historical Society Collection) the two communities, Orono appeared to have the edge until it was snubbed by the Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad, which extended a branch line to Lower Town in 1864. Elk River also became a stop on the Saint Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba(later Great Northern) Railroad in 1867. These rail connections stimulated rapid growth: population more than doubled between 1860 and 1870. The Upper Town and Lower Town officially merged in 1881, when the Village of Elk River was 1 Gene H.Hollenstein,Power Development in Minnesota,Bulletin 20,Division of Waters,Minnesota Conservation Department(Saint Paul:n.p.,July 1962),3. 2 J.W.Featherston,"Interesting Account of Early Elk River by Old Time Resident,"Sherburne County Star News, June 16, 1938. 3 Newton H.Winchell and others,History of the Upper Mississippi Valley(Minneapolis:Minnesota Historical Society, 1881),296. 72