So, how did the Stearns County community begin? How has the community changed over time? These questions can be answered by examining it's history. Let's begin by identifying the environment, people, and places of Stearns County. Click an image and proceed to Environment, People, or Places.

Environment

The environment that Stearns County exists in has changed dramatically over time. Some of the changes have been caused by natural events. Other changes to the environment have been the direct result of human interaction. It is hard to imagine that Stearns County was once covered by masses of glacial ice. In fact, before the arrival of human beings, Stearns County was situated between two glacial icesheets named the Des Moines and Superior Lobes. As the ice retreated, the area was covered in boreal forests - forests that could endure severe Arctic winds. By 5,500 BC, as nature continued to shift and change the surface of the earth, the boreal forests were replaced by a combination of prairie and oak savannah.

The area's natural resources attracted human interaction with the environment. In prehistoric periods, archaeological evidence suggests that people living in the area were primarily hunters and gatherers. They also mined stone and copper to make tools. Later civilizations used the earth to craft pottery and build burial mounds. These people supplemented hunting and gathering with agriculture. In more recent history, French and Canadian fur traders utilized the natural waterways to transport furs. European-Americans were attracted to the area by the agricultural potential of untouched prairie land. In addition, European-American craftsmen made building materials and monuments out of the granite deposits found in the earth.

Stearns County's environment has changed dramatically in recent history due to human activities. Logging, quarrying, farming, industry, and European-American settlement during the late 1800s dramatically reduced prairies and oak savannahs. As a result, the area suffered a loss of prairie songbirds and native wildlife. Today, the community's environment continues to change. For example, the use of chemicals and pesticides has reduced the songbird population. Fish in the Mississippi are reported to have levels of mercury, a poisonous metal industrial waste. The expansion of cities and residential communities continues to eliminate prairie, savannah, and now, agricultural lands.

Gather newspaper or magazine articles on environmental issues affecting the community today.

	Can you think of other changes in the environment in the past 100 years?
	Can you predict how Stearns County's environment will change during your lifetime?

People

If environment, people, and places combine to form a community, it can be said that people give the community personality. People come together with different talents and skills, ethnic backgrounds, religions, political opinions, and social values.

Before we begin looking at some of the people who have helped to create community over time, take a moment to think about the people who live in the community today.

	Name people that have impact on present-day Stearns County.
	In what ways do you impact life in the community?
	How did your family and you come to live in Stearns County?

Archaeology tells us that people have lived in this area forming communities since prehistoric periods. The composition of the communities in Stearns County has changed over time and continues to change today. Because little is known about the people who lived during early time periods, they have been categorized into broad cultural groups.

It is believed that the first people in this area lived in the Paleoindian and the Eastern Archaic traditions. The Paleoindian people lived from 10,000 B.C. through 5,000 B.C. Eastern Archaic people lived between 5,000 B.C. and 750 B.C. Their lives were sustained by hunting large game such as mammoth and giant bison and gathering food from the plant life around them. Stones were chipped or ground and copper was mined to create tools for these communities.

During the Middle Prehistoric period, 500 B.C. through 900 A.D., people of the Woodland Tradition are believed to have lived in Stearns County. These communities were known for making and using pottery in their everyday lives. In addition, they are recognized for their use of burial mounds. A 1911 survey of burial mounds showed there were straight, round, and sometimes animal-shaped mounds in Stearns County. Although most have since been plowed under or bulldozed, evidence of the mounds can still be found in the county. By 900 A.D., the Late Prehistoric period, people living in the area were an agricultural culture. Archaeologists label these people the Mississippian Tradition. In addition to hunting and fishing, this community raised crops such as corn, beans, and squash. In the Stearns County area, wild rice was also included in their harvest.

Human presence in Stearns County changed dramatically during the era called the Contact period (1650-1851). During this period two prominent Native American communities, descendants of the Woodland Tradition, lived in Stearns County. They were the Dakota people who lived in the prairie and forests of southern Stearns County, and the Ojibwe people who resided in the northern sections of the county. Change and conflict began as Europeans began arriving in the area. They came as explorers, land surveyors, military, traders, and, eventually, settlers. With them, the Europeans brought different values, language, religion, social rules, technology, and government.

As the eastern part of the United States expanded its settlement, the government purchased the Territory of Louisiana from France. Native American communities found they were being pushed westward, away from their homelands. The Ojibwe and Dakota people were forced to sign treaties with the government ceding their land in exchange for protected reservation land and financial compensation. Having lost faith in the promises of the United States government, the Dakota people attempted to fight for their land. This resulted in bringing the anger of both the government and settlers against them and all other Native American populations. By 1880 Native American people were restricted to live on reservations outside their original homeland in Stearns County.

The European and Americans from the eastern United States who came to live in Stearns County during the Post Contact period (1862 - present day) came for a variety of reasons and with a variety of backgrounds. Early residents to the town of St. Cloud included Southern businessmen with experience in shipping and transportation, German Catholics who came seeking work as shopkeepers and tradesmen, and Eastern businessmen with backgrounds in milling. Other immigrant populations settled the outlying areas of the county as farmers. Small towns and villages began to develop as farms and businesses prospered.

The largest immigrant populations were of German ancestry. In 1880 there were over 7,000 people living in Stearns County who had German heritage. By 1905, the number of German immigrants had grown to approximately 25,000. Other sizable immigrant populations in Stearns County included Irish, Canadian, English, Scots, Polish, Luxembourgers, Norwegian, and Slovenian people. By 1930 Stearns County had families from over 25 different ethnic or immigrant groups. These included German, French, Canadian, English, Irish, Polish, Swedish, Mexican, African American, Dutch, Belgian, Luxembourg, Swiss, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Czechoslovakian, Yugoslavian, Hungarian, Romanian, Italian, and Greek people.

During the 1970s, the area's makeup changed again as people migrated from urban areas to quieter, safer towns like St. Cloud. In addition, a new wave of immigrants arrived from areas in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam. Many of these new immigrants were refugees fleeing persecution in their homeland. Having assisted the United States military during the Vietnam War they were threatened with imprisonment or death by the reigning Communist government. Local churches and organizations sponsored Southeast Asian families and brought them to safe resettlement in Stearns County. Today, the immigration story continues as new settlers arrive from African communities and from the conflict in Bosnia and Eastern Europe.

	Imagine you are a member of Stearns County's Paleoindian community. What issues might your community be facing in 8,000 B.C.?
	Now imagine you are a member of Stearns County's German immigrant community living in the area in 1880. What is your life like? What kinds of problems are you experiencing?
	Finally, imagine you have just arrived in the Stearns County community from the Republic of Somali in Africa. What will your life be like? How will you be treated in the new community?

Places

Sometimes you can learn the most about a particular community by examining the buildings, sites, and destinations in the area. These places can tell an observer about the community's values, economy, religion, leisure time activities, and occupations. For instance, if you took a bus through the city of Detroit, Michigan, you would see block after block of abandoned automobile assembly factories. What does this tell you about the community of Detroit?

	If you were snowmobiling through the town of Cloquet, Minnesota, and noticed that there were 15 youth hockey rinks spread throughout the community, what would that tell you about the community?
	If you were to drive through the little village of Grand Meadow, Minnesota, and saw people lining up to attend a community theater performance in the town hall, what would you know about that community?

Generally, places in a community are built in response to a community need or value. For instance, in the very early days of St. Cloud's history, visitors traveling through the area seeking overnight lodging stayed in the loft over Barney Overbeck's log cabin. This first hotel was called The Farmer's Home. Since Barney Overbeck was also the constable, his cellar served as the jail. This arrangement was soon outgrown by the increased number of travelers to the area. A need developed for more and improved sleeping quarters for travelers. Overbeck erected the Minnesota House, a frame structure which served for many years as the area's principal hotel. Incidentally, you can see the original The Farmer's Home hotel/jail where it has been preserved in Heritage Park.

Collegeville is an example of a place being founded on a value. It is the college community of St. John's University. Organized in 1857 at a site in Lower Town (St. Cloud), five students joined a group of monks and established a seminary for religious education. Conflict over who owned the land title forced the school to move to St. Joseph. The school finally settled outside of St. Joseph in a rural area and called it Collegeville.

In 1880 Collegeville became a townsite, or village. Mail was delivered to Collegeville and a train depot was erected along the Great Northern Railroad line for the students to travel to and from the school. A few local businesses sprang up to support the college community. As automobiles became commonly used, many of the goods and services provided by businesses in Collegeville declined because students could travel into St. Joseph and St. Cloud for their supplies. Today, Collegeville exists as the University community, with the surrounding land used as residential and farm land.

Finding History in a Place

The city of St. Cloud has an interesting “place” history. It is actually made up of three different places (towns) that merged together to form St. Cloud as we know it today. The three distinct settlements were known as Upper Town, Middle Town, and Lower Town. Upper Town, originally called Acadia, was platted by Sylvanus P. Lowry. Lowry was from Tennessee and came to the area as a fur trader. Other Southerners joined Lowry and for several years, Upper Town was the principal business center of the three communities.

Middle Town was platted in 1854 by John L. Wilson, a resident of Maine. A big fan of French history, Wilson named his community St. Cloud after the suburb in Paris, France, where the emperor Napoleon had a summer palace. Middle Town was settled by German Catholics who worked as tradesmen and shopkeepers.

After acquiring a piece of land south of Middle Town, George Fuller Brott organized the St. Cloud Township Company and began promoting settlement. This settlement was called Lower Town. Most of the settlers attracted to Lower Town came from New England and the mid-Atlantic states.

Each community had its own ethnic character, streets, ferry crossings, churches, schools, and stores. The towns continued to develop separately until they were consolidated in 1856. Because the three communities had been located close to each other, the community leaders chose to consolidate as a way to gain more political power and to share common services and facilities. The town formed during the consolidation effort was named St. Cloud.

	Which places are necessary for your community to function today?
	Which places make your community an enjoyable place to live?
	What kinds of places would you like to see added to your community?