|
| 1871 |
C. K. Orton
arrived in Benson by train and then started out on foot. He made his
formal claim to 160 acres of pre-empted government land in Litchfield
which was the nearest land office. |
| 1872 |
C. K. Orton
settled on section nine of Township 121, range 46. C. K. Orton and
three brothers built three buildings near the lake and started farming.
C. K. Orton also opened a trading post. |
| 1874 |
On September 1st,
the first Board of County Commissioners established the first six school
districts. A county Superintendent of Schools functioned from July
20, 1874 to July 20, 1878, and from March 19, 1881 to July 1, 1969. |
| 1875 |
The post office
was established with C. K. Orton the first postmaster. |
| 1876 |
The first
permanent store opened with Schumaker and Woodly as proprietors. |
| 1877 |
Ortonville, School
District #1, did not have a school until the summer of 1877. Miss
Ida Van Kleek was the first teacher in Ortonville |
| 1878 |
Dr. A. E.
Pettingill was the first doctor in Ortonville. |
| 1879 |
On April 20th, a
fire swept through the town destroying more than half of the 28 buildings. |
| 1879 |
The first
passenger train arrived in Ortonville on November 29, 1879. C. K.
Orton had given the right-of-way to the railroad. |
| 1879 |
Navigation on Big
Stone Lake was promoted and several companies were formed to transport
passengers and freight. |
| 1879 |
C. K. Orton set
aside two acres of land to be used as a cemetery. The Mound Cemetery
Association of Ortonville has since added more land. The cemetery's
earliest birth is 1791 with the earliest death being 1877. |
|
1881 |
Ortonville was
organized as a village by an act of the state legislature in the
spring session. The first village officers were: H. Van
Inwegen, president; C. K. Orton, Bernard Dassel, and A. L. Jackson,
trustees; F. G. Tuttle, recorder, F. H. Holloway, city justice; and A. E.
Randall, treasurer. |
| 1887 |
The first class to
graduate from Ortonville High School - with the following three graduates:
J. William Brown, Miss Franc Murray Potter and William E. Russell. |
| 1892 |
Columbian Hotel
was built. |
| 1897 |
On August 19th, a
fire destroyed the entire east side of Second Street between Madison and
Monroe, ten buildings in all. |
| 1898 |
On February 8, the
City of Ortonville opened bids for $15,000 bonds for its water and light
departments. The 1899 Plat Book shows the City Water and Electric
Works on the lakeshore. |
| 1902 |
The current Big
Stone County Courthouse was built. |
| 1906 |
On October 30, Dr.
Jacob Karn and Dr. Charles Bolsta opened a 17 bed hospital on Washington
Avenue between Second and Third streets. Grand View Hospital.
Miss Josephine Bolsta, R.N., a sister of Dr. Bolsta, was the first
superintendent. In 1919, Dr. Charles Bolsta and Dr. Bert R. Karn
transferred title of Grand View to the South Dakota Evangelical Church
Society. It was called the Ortonville Evangelical Hospital until
1944, when the church transferred title to the property and the operation
of the hospital back to Dr. Charles Bolsta and Dr. B. R. Karn. Drs.
Bolsta and Karn, in turn, transferred the hospital to the City of
Ortonville. In September 1944, the council passed an ordinance
creating a hospital board. |
| 1913 |
The first motion
picture theatre in Ortonville was built at 240 NW Second Street - later
became the Moose Lodge. |
| 1913 |
The Library Board
asked the City Council to raise $1,000 by tax levy and to apply to the
Carnegie Foundation for funds. The City purchased the site for
$1,800. The plans of F. W. Elerby, architect, for his Venetian
Renaissance design were approved by the Carnegie Council and $10,000 was
donated for the building. Carlson-Hasslen bid of $10,250 was
accepted and later adjusted to $9,335. The library was opened on
April 26, 1915. |
|
1918-1919 |
Epidemic of
Spanish influenza in Big Stone County |
| 1917 |
On June 30th,
street lights "went on" in Ortonville. |
| 1924 |
The armory was
built. |
| 1930 |
23 blocks of city
pavement were laid in the summer and early fall. A three day
pavement celebration and Goodwill Festival began with a dedication
ceremony on Friday, noon, October 10. |
| 1931 |
The first Corn
Festival, sponsored by the Ortonville Town and Farm Club, was held
September 3 & 4, 1931. The Big Stone Caning Company donated the corn
for the noon lunch that was served in Central Park. |
| 1933 |
The Carlson and
Hasslen Construction Company was awarded the $37,465 contract for the
sewage and disposal plant. |
| 1940's |
Epidemic of
poliomyelitis in Big Stone County. |
| 1949 |
Ottertail Power
Company built a plant at the foot of the lake. |
| 1950 |
Hasslen
Construction Co. of Ortonville was awarded the contract for general
construction in the amount of $191,000 for a 32-bed hospital on the site
at 750 Eastvold Avenue. With the completion of the new hospital in
1952, the Grand View Hospital building was converted into Park View
Nursing Home until it closed in September 1978. |
| 1968 |
The Housing
Redevelopment Authority organized with an application to build the 50-unit
Lakeside Apartments, the high-rise housing for the elderly that replaced
the Orton Hotel. |
| 1975 |
$1,800,000 in
general obligation bonds for a nursing home was approved by Ortonville
voters. The cornerstone of Ortonville's 74-bed nursing home was
placed on September 11, 1977. Northridge Residence at 1075 Roy
Street held an open house on March 18 and 19, 1978, for the new long-term
care facility. |
|
For additional information regarding
Ortonville and Big Stone County, contact the
Big Stone County Historical Society
Hwy. 12 & Hwy. 75
Ortonville, MN 56278
320/839-3359 |
