INFORMATION #3 05-03-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Klaers, Pat From: Sent: To: Subject: Rohlf, Steve Monday, April 05, 2004 2:34 PM Cityhall Staff Names of Conference Rooms Greetings, I've been asked to explain the rather odd sounding names of the conference rooms in city hall. All of the names have historic significance for Elk River. Here goes: Double River The English translation of the Ojibwe name for the Elk River ("Wich a wan") is "Double River" (or where two rivers join), because it parallels the Mississippi River. White people called the Elk River the St Francis until Nicollet's 1843 map named the Elk's northern most tributary the St. Francis and used the Ojibwe name (Double River) for the Elk. Because of a large herd of Woodland Elk in this area, Zebulon Pike renamed it the Elk, which is what it has been called since 1850. Battle Point When the first whites came to Sherburne County it was virtually void of Native American settlements. This is because it was the no-man's-lands between the Ojibwe and Sioux Indian Tribes, who were warring. On two consecutive summers, as one tribe followed the Elk and the other followed the Mississippi, they met where the two rivers join. Significant skirmishes ensued on these two summers in 1772 and 1773. These battles were part of a series of fights that took place between the two tribes as the Ojibwe pushed southward from Canada, eventually resulting in the Sioux being forced from the "Big Woods". We are unsure of whether the battles took place on east or west side of the Elk, but it is my opinion from following a excerpt from Warren William's "History of the Ojibway People" that they took place on the west side. If you wish to read more on this issue I will be glad to provide you this text. Orono Seeing the potential water power of the Elk River (narrow enough, enough flow and enough drop), a man named Ard Godfrey built a dam and saw mill just down stream from the present day dam in 1851. Mr. Godfrey came from Orono Maine. In 1855 the plat of Orono was created and the town of Orono was founded. Mill Pond The lake created by Ard Godfrey's dam was call the "Mill Pond". Lake Orono is still referred to as the Mill Pond by many long term residents. The Mill pond was only a portion of the lake however. It extended from the present day dam to Orono Cemetery Point. The other three lobes of Lake Orono where created as a result of a new hydro power dam in 1916. Upper Town and Lower Town In the 1870s, railroads began replacing the rivers as the mode of transportation and consequently the center of commerce. When this happened, what many consider the historic downtown of Elk River was created. At first the new commercial boom took place north of the tracks along what is called today railroad, formerly State Street. The two competing commercial areas were know as Upper Town (the area by the dam) and Lower Town ( what we now consider the historic downtown). They were so named because one was up river from the other. Eventually commercial activity ceased in Upper Town and it turned into the residential area we know it as today.