The emigrant aid journal of Minnesota. [volume] (Nininger City, Minn. Terr. [i.e. Minn.]) 1856-1858, 1858-05-05
The city Of NlninGcr-1ts Rise. Progress nlad
prospects,.

pi 25 miles below st. Pau. by water, and II miles by
land, itcrrying at Nininger }
Those who visit Mimi ger now and recollect the ap
rearance Of the landscape wlen they paused to admire
it e;yh,:en months agn VII surely excIaam, trut' is
stranger than fiction. Were No, for the indelibIe i'm
preston made ON their minds by the rare beauty Of the
location md its lvohiilcn. landmarks assuring them 1t
was the same spot, they conld scarcely believe that i" SO
short Il period u thriving town OF seven hundred mliabl-
taut. could arise, where Or their previous visit they could
onlv discern to .onrly dwellings,. Part OF this aston.
ishins progress, be It not,d, has been realized during Il
Revision almost unparalleled, and willie otber places
were stationary or reiH'Giadinc.
The natural advantages Of the spot as a site for q
large city are such as could not long have been over
looked. 4 party Of shrewd business men determined to
turn these natural adysnfages 10 account, and went to
work in the right way. They sold building lots at cost
| price u parties who doan1 hems fHes 6Y covenant to put
up a certain a,nouns of improvements within two years,
or forfeit the lots. They gave due publicity to the pro-
! ject, and Us every lot scli 1T cost price would within
Two years cul! forth a stipulated amount CT improve
men,s, the certainly Of the town getting ii good start
was beyond 4 doubt. TWAs stipulated Improvements
wcre PIT up, 40 m"n 'rho bonyht at cost price could get "
legally perfect Title Deed for has hts. Some lots were
reserved by the proprietors, and sold at high prices with
out an improvement clause. The Deeds for these are
perfect.
1t is also the roost accessible point to the vast tracts
of land of unsurpassed richness in the beautiful valleys
of the Cannon, Vermillion and Straight rivers. The
distance to the furnishing t"w's back Of US is a. follows
--Gannen Falls Is miles, Lewiston II, Waterford y,
Mortified 20, Faribanlt 35, Rosemount 10, Lakeviile
20, Shieldsville 80 miles.
The location Of Niningcr is an admirable one for &
distributing river town. and the settlers in the fertile
valleys Of the Fcrmililon and Cannon rivers, and the
Cottage Grove district, congratulate each other on the
advent OF u river town at the precise point best suited
for their wants. We have already two Saw. mills and u
Sash, Door an Blind Factory. All the machinery for.
a frs: rate new Grist mill is on the spot, and the mill
will so.n be doing the farmers some service. There are
Carpenters, Pasteyers, Blacksmiths, Wheelrights and
Shoemakers Grocery aud Dry Good stores, Stove and
Tin ware and Hat, Cap, and Shoe stores. The Nininger
Lime is in high repute. On the additions to the town
there is frst-rate clay fer B~rickmaking, and any COM
petent party commencing that business here soon should
succeed we'll. The building stone is excellent. There
is abundance Of timber for frewood near at hand, and we
learn that coal has been found about twenty miles south.
west. We have Schools and a Lyceum, and divine SER
vice every Sabbath by %clergymen of the leading den"m-
nations. Here the Em;yrunt Hid Jur"al is publish.
ed. There arc favorable opportunities for parties to
commence business. 4 wholesale Grocery and Proyis-
ion store 2 Foundry and Machine shop an Agricul-
tural implement Mandatory; u General Hardware
store a merchant Tailor; an Apsthecary a Book
seller and StatNoner u Hair Dresser ; a saddler;
a Gunsmitb, and q Forwarding and Commission estab-
!ishment are required, and many other businesses could
be established here with reasonable probability of sue
cess. During the season of navigation steam packets
pass the town daily. Building lots can be bought ON
easy terms, 50 that persons Of moderate means can get
along with less capital than is required to settle at many
places where th.re is less work going on than at MINI.
ger.
We doubt if there is another place in the whole coun-
try where tie revulsion Of trade last year has been fel,
80 lightly as il this town. If it did interfere with tbt
prosperity Of the town somewhat, and stopped the pro.
gress of certain classes of business, its effect on the
spirits and hopes of the people was hardly perceived
They have kept busy-usetully cmployed-and enjoyed
| fhamcaIvoa EportiIv hut foOporo<o1v A roOu1or uyonElv
dance has been kept up two evenings, in the 6ne large
room in fremont llaIl-the second one was started be-
cause the attendance was too large to allow many to ell.
joy it all they desired. Both Of them close precisely
at Il O'Clock. 1t may be mentioned tc the credit OF
our town, and especially to their managers, that no
indulgence il spirituous Liquors has taken place on any
occasion Of public festivity, there has, consequently,
been nc disturbance or rictous proceedings through all
the winter.
The past of a town is often an index Of its future.
| particularly where that ,ast has depended on Internal
force and not ol iortuitoIs cl;cuustances. Where,
however, q town has grown because it has been born.
| up by the general advance of the country, and has haG
no rivals to contend against, no argument is Furnished
for It's future succe 8 when arrayed against active ant
energetic rivals. In the history Of Nininger it must b.
| observed that it has attained its present position in the
face Of the opposition of the then most prosperous town
in Minnesota Its strength has thus been thoroughly
tested. 1t has also been effected by the worst POSSIBLE
condition Of monetary affairs, during the late crisis. l,
mus: therefore be borne in mind that our past caree,
has not been one Of easy and natural growth. We have
! had to fight our way agai2s al kinds of obstacles, and
| whatever we have achieved has been by perseverance,
and determination.
What better pledge cn we offer the newcomer for
our future than the mere rec I'll Of these facts. Such u
crisis as that Of 1857 il rot again expected to occur in
the xext twenty years. The opposition we at first en-
countered is every day growing less.
Now let us examine what resources we have for the
future.
In the FIRST place, we anticipate fairly and reasonably,
a proper share Of that growth which it is hoped thu
coming spring will bring to the Whule Of the great West
In the next place, one material fact which initiated
greatly against us in the past, will during the coming
spring be obvated, viz the opposition heretofore ex
| rerienced FROM the steamboats,. This will be removed
III two ways ;-Grst, by the fact that Nininger is now
made an advertised point at which the mail boats muM
leave the mal,-and It is the determination of many OF
cur citizens to take legal measures against the mail con |
tractors if they fail to perform their duty secondly |
our Town Council contemplate at once extending tn,
levee 10 bassett's Landing. (which will at once remove
all possible objections on the part of the steamboats, to
landing here, for it is a we'll known fact that for seven
years past Bassett's Landing has held a high reputa
ton among steamboat captains as a landing place, and
that too, long before 4 town was thought Of here.
In the third place, the ~emierant who visits our town
during the c"ains year, viii find our citizens busy III
making various ornamental and useful improvements.
lie will see the work On the levec going On he will ST.
various streets being graded he vii! see board walk
being built around some Of the main blocks, and he viii
see that all these works distribute among the citizens Il
large amount Of money, which must rebound to thu
prosperity of the whole place. |
III the next place, : careful axamiaat;op Of the in
rroyement clauses c.ntaincd in the deeds of those who
bought under the covenant set forth above, will convince
any oae that a large amount of benefit will be derived
10 the town from that source alone. Between two and
three hundred Thousand dollars worth OF Improvement
ire to be made under those covenants. Whether these
have to be made ut once. or IN DrODOrtlCDate OartS dur.
ing the coming one or two years, they will nevertheless
Id materially to the growth Of the town.
In the next place, although the great depression in
money affairs has made all railroad prniects a matter Of
uncertainty and doubt, and although it has fallen with
nevertheless we still hope that with the return Of better
times, the Ninngcr and St. Peter Railroad Stock may,
under the inducements set forth in an adjoining column,